Nurses launch second bid to decertify union

They made the 2 ½-hour drive to San Francisco and turned in petitions with 271 signatures asking that the California Nurses Association be removed as the bargaining representative at hospitals in Marysville and Yuba City.

"We're going to show you CNA that you're not wanted," Shawna Van Dusen, an RN and a member of Nurses for Self-Representation, said of her and Lois Tolley traveling Wednesday to the National Labor Relations Board offices in the Bay Area.

Terri Hamilton, chief executive officer of Fremont-Rideout Health Group, in a written statement referred to the "unprecedented second petition" signed by most nurses asking that the California Nurses Association be removed as the bargaining representative at Fremont and Rideout hospitals.

"This time the petition includes a strong message intended for the CNA and the National Labor Relations Board clearly opposing union representation," Hamilton said.

But Van Dusen doubts the document will matter much.

"The petition," she said, "is probably not going to go anywhere or do anything."

"I think it's put on a shelf," Van Dusen said.

Nurses at Rideout Memorial Hospital and Fremont Medical Center submitted a petition in November 2008 asking for the removal of CNA as their representative, Hamilton said.

She said the state nurses association, through legal maneuvering, sought to block the withdrawal of recognition by the federal labor relations board and succeeded in doing so.

Liz Jacobs, CNA spokeswoman, said Fremont-Rideout has repeatedly had charges of unfair labor practices levied against it when nurses have sought a fair contract.

Many complaints have been upheld, then challenged by Fremont-Rideout, upheld again by the federal labor board and by state judges, Jacobs said. The NLRB in Washington rejected another Fremont-Rideout appeal last week and upheld the judge's ruling that the hospital group broke the law when it withdrew union recognition the first time, Jacobs said.

"We are still deciding what we're going to do with some of the rulings," said Fremont-Rideout spokeswoman Tresha Moreland said. She declined further comment.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com.