A disputed union election for registered nurses (RN’s) at Antelope Valley Hospital is receiving a lot of attention, with the state Public Employment Relations Board stepping in to file a complaint against the hospital board, and nine state legislators writing to the hospital board to point out practices not conducive to a well-run hospital. The dispute stems from an attempt by Antelope Valley nurses to elect the California Nurses Association (CNA) as their collective bargaining agent in order to address what they feel are serious problems with patient care caused by dangerously low staffing levels. Although a majority of the nurses voted for union representation according to CNA officials, the hospital claims that there are seventy-eight RN’s at the hospital that the union has not taken into account, and refuses to acknowledge votes that continue to come in favoring union representation.
See RICHARD FAUSSET, Los Angeles Times, July 8, 2002