Religious Leaders and Elected Officials March with Caregivers for a Free and Fair Union Election

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/religious-leaders-elected-officials-march/story.aspx?guid={E7298019-14EA-48B8-AC70-447EA80E466C}&dist=hppr


Religious Leaders and Elected Officials March with Caregivers for a Free and Fair Union Election at St. Joseph Hospitals
1,000 healthcare workers call on Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange to return to their legacy of justice and dignity for workers

Last update: 5:58 p.m. EDT July 27, 2008

ORANGE, Calif., July 27, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- One thousand hospital workers marched through the streets of Santa Ana and Orange on Saturday to ask the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange to allow them to vote to form a union without harassment and intimidation by supervisors.

Elected leaders spoke in support of the workers at a rally in front of the Sisters' Motherhouse at St. Joseph hospital, including California Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, Assemblymember Dr. Ed Hernandez (57th District), Assemblymember Mike Eng (49th), Assemblymember Warren Furutani (55th), a representative of Assemblymember Jose Solorio (69th), and Santa Ana Councilmember Michelle Martinez.

Judith Leder, a former Sister of St. Joseph of Orange, also called on the Sisters to support their caregivers. "It is amazing to me that I am standing outside the gates I first entered 50 years ago, asking the Sisters to support the values of dignity and justice that we always stood for," she said.

In 1973, several Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange spent two weeks in a Fresno jail to support striking farmworkers. But workers in hospitals owned by the Sisters say that when began their own effort to form a union, they experienced intimidation and threats from supervisors that made a free and fair election impossible.

"My co-workers want a voice in what happens in our hospital, so we can be good advocates for our patients," said Drina Robledo, a licensed vocational nurse at St. Joseph's Chapman Clinic for 27 years.

"But there is just so much fear. A lot of people think they'll be fired just for talking with each other about forming a union."

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