Good Samaritan Hospital’s Nurses Vote to Remain in Union

Registered nurses at Good Samaritan Hospital near downtown Los Angeles have voted to confirm their union membership after a bitter labor dispute that has divided the hospital and created anguish among Episcopal Church leaders.

This week’s vote of 287 to 164--a 64%-36% ratio--means that nurses will continue to be represented by the California Nurses Assn., which was voted in nearly two years ago by a smaller margin.

Pro-union nurses say they are hoping the show of force will break the deadlock in negotiations that has left nurses without a contract since December 1998.

“This is such a big victory for nurses, as well as patients and the community,” said Sharon Chan, a cardiac care nurse and member of the union’s bargaining council. “It means we can advocate better for our patients.”

Myrna Madriaga, who works in the hospital’s open-heart unit, said, “I would say the margin sends a very strong message to management.”

In a statement, the hospital’s president, Andrew B. Leeka, expressed disappointment that Good Samaritan does not have the “opportunity to work with our nurses directly.” But, in an interview, he said the hospital respects the nurses’ decision and will continue to negotiate in good faith.

Protracted talks prompted both sides to accuse each other of harassment, deception and unfair labor practices. The union decertification election was prompted by a petition from about 30% of nurses.

The confrontational climate has tested and divided the Episcopal clergy and lay leaders as they encourage a settlement.

Although the church, which founded the hospital in 1885, yielded control to nonsectarian management decades ago, institutional ties remain: Bishop Frederick H. Borsch is the board’s ex officio chairman, the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles elects one board representative annually and the hospital chaplain is Episcopalian.

Through a spokesman, Borsch said Friday that the vote “helps clear the air.” He offered to assist both sides in bringing negotiations to a “good conclusion.”

“Now is the time for both sides to return to good faith negotiations [and] to stop trying to caricature the other side,” he said.

Borsch has remained relatively neutral in the dispute but has said he strongly supports fair working conditions and pay for employees. Other clergy members have pressed the hospital to abandon what they view as anti-union activities.

The Rev. Richard W. Gillett, the diocese’s minister for social justice, said the clergy members were particularly concerned that the hospital hired as consultants the controversial Burke Group, which they view as union-busters.

In August, Gillett and seven other Episcopal clergy members wrote a letter to Good Samaritan board Chairman Charles C. Munger urging dismissal of the Burke Group and accelerated negotiations. Gillett on Friday renewed a request to meet with Munger.

Pro-union nurses, as well, have questioned the expenditure of precious health-care funds on the Burke Group, saying it undermines the hospital’s claims of poverty.

Leeka, who refused to say how much the hospital has spent on the firm, contends that the group was needed to counter union organizers and educate him about labor law.

Good Samaritan, an independent, nonprofit hospital renowned for its open-heart surgeries, orthopedic services and other costly specialties, has been squeezed by rising health care costs and cutbacks in government and managed care payments.

The hospital has asked nurses to embrace a less costly system of paid time off--vacation, holidays and sick days--and give up bonuses for working weekends. The proposed cutbacks would amount to 3% of the nurses’ current income, according to nurses union organizer David Monkawa.

Some nurses say staffing shortfalls and over-reliance on nurses from temporary agencies who are unfamiliar with hospital equipment and procedures threaten patient care.

Leeka said patient care has not suffered and argued that staffing is not even on the table because both sides already have agreed that management will set staffing levels. He also accused the union of shifting its positions, most recently upping its demands for a raise.