Safe staffing and a greater voice in patient care are key concerns

Registered nurses at Doctors Hospital of Manteca (DHM) are the newest members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) after voting by a 94 percent margin for union representation. When the ballots were counted today, a total of 121 RNs voted to join CNA, with just 8 votes for "no union."

The mail-in ballot election was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.

CNA will now represent 200 RNs at Doctors Hospital of Manteca, which is part of the Tenet Healthcare system, one of the largest for-profit hospital chains in the United States. Overall, NNU represents 5,500 Tenet RNs at 14 Tenet hospitals in California, Arizona, and Texas.

Nurses were motivated to form a union due to the loss of many colleagues to neighboring union hospitals because of eroding patient care conditions, especially as conditions worsened during the latest Covid-19 surge, and the opportunity for better economic standards.

“It’s a new day for Doctors’ nurses, patients, and our entire community,” said Doctors Hospital RN Kamal Kaur. “We are thrilled to join with our Tenet RN sisters, brothers, and colleagues at other facilities who have achieved important gains and continue to work to set new standards for all Tenet RNs."

“We are so proud of our RN colleagues at Doctors Hospital,” said CNA President Cathy Kennedy, RN. “In joining together with the 100,000 other CNA members across California, you have taken a bold and dramatic step to strengthen protections for your patients, your families, your coworkers, and all Californians.”  

DHM nurses want the voice, protections, and standards their Tenet colleagues at other CNA- and NNU-represented facilities have won through their union.

“The nurses at Doctors are excited to join CNA so we can all work together towards our common goal of improving patient care, addressing nursing needs, and ensuring a strong future for our hospital through a union contract,” said Doctors’ RN Mike Agardy.

“As nurses we know what’s right for our patients,” said Katrina Radu, RN. “For too long we have gone without a proper voice in patient care standards. We have been short staffed, unable to retain nurses, and struggling while Tenet puts profits before us and our patients over and over again. We can change that through our union, putting ourselves at the bargaining table with management as equals.”

The next step for Doctors' registered nurses will be to survey their colleagues for key issues to discuss in negotiations with hospital management and elect a nurse negotiating team.

NNU, of which CNA is the largest affiliate, represents more than 175,000 RNs from California to Maine.