Baltimore City Council Supports Union Elections For Hospital Workers

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Baltimore’s City Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday night endorsing “free and fair union elections for all hospital and nursing home workers in every facility throughout the city,” reports SEIU 1199 Communications Director Stacey Mink. The resolution said that unionized health care workers are best able to protect quality patient care and work with employers toward shared goals, such as expanding training and education opportunities. “In the past, local health care employers have hired high-priced anti-worker consultants and diverted patient care dollars into fear campaigns to silence caregivers,” says Mink. “These anti-worker campaigns not only waste health care resources, they ultimately take the focus off patient care.” Noting that one in five Baltimore jobs are in health care, the resolution says that improving health care jobs will “expand the city’s middle class, bolster the city’s economic health and help foster an economic recovery with shared prosperity.” With just nine percent of Baltimore’s health care workers currently unionized, “many struggle to provide for their families on low wages with no affordable health care or opportunities to advance,” Mink added. – SEIU members rally to support the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act in March; photo by Adam Wright