Registered nurses at Providence Little Company of Mary, Torrance filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board July 30, 2013 to join the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU).  The NLRB will then determine a date to hold a federally supervised secret ballot election for the nurses.
 
The nurses submitted a sufficient number of signed union cards (30%) to trigger the process for setting the election for the approximately 725 RNs. The nurses want to be represented by CNA/NNU to gain a real voice in patient care, in particular on safe staffing issues, improved salaries, and healthcare benefits, and to be respected without retaliatory treatment. Such improvements will facilitate greater recruitment and retention of skilled RNs and lessen the costs of replacement and training of new hires estimated at $80,000 to $100,000 per nurse.

“We need a strong collective voice for better patient care,” said Heather Albright, an RN who works in the surgical-orthopedic unit. “That means more staffing to meet patients' needs and more working equipment on the floors. With an independent voice, our ability to advocate for safe care and hold onto our experienced nurses will improve.”
 
CNA/NNU currently represents several thousand RNs in the Long Beach and South Bay region. Providence Little Company of Mary-San Pedro (the sister facility of Little Company of Mary-Torrance) won union representation with CNA in 2003, as well as St. Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, which is currently in the process of being purchased by Providence. Other nearby hospitals where RNs are represented by CNA are: Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Community Hospital of Long Beach, St. Mary Medical Center-Long Beach, Centinela Medical Center, UCLA Medical Center, and Daniel Freeman-Marina Del Rey Hospital.
 
The Little Company of Mary-Torrance is part of Providence Health and Services chain, headquartered in Renton, Wash., with 30 hospitals in four states, (five in California) of which 17 have union representation. Providence Health and Services is highly profitable, with the Torrance facility netting more than $40 million from 2009 to 2011, the latest years available on record with the IRS.
CNA/NNU is the largest and fastest-growing RN professional union in California representing 86,000 RNs in more than 200 facilities.