a1449: South Florida Sun-Sentinel:Union dispute heats up (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>


Union dispute heats up at Miami nursing home

By Madeline Baró Diaz
Miami Bureau
Posted March 21 2002

MIAMI · Union representatives fighting a challenge at a
Miami Shores nursing home say the nursing home has accused
them of using "voodoo" threats to intimidate employees into
voting for a union.

A National Labor Relations Board official told Service
Employee International Union leaders of the allegations
that union representatives used voodoo signs, symbols and
gestures to scare employees into supporting the union, said
Monica Russo, president of the SEIU Local 1199.











Union supporters called the allegations racist, since many
of the nursing home workers and union organizers are
Haitian immigrants.

"The basis of the objections are bogus and frivolous,"
Russo said. "To use disgusting stereotypes is despicable
and our community should not stand for this."

On Feb. 28, certified nursing assistants and housekeeping,
dietary and laundry workers at Mount Sinai-St. Francis
Nursing and Rehabilitation Center voted 49 to 37 to form a
union.

The nursing home challenged the election. The nursing home
is accusing union representatives of threatening, harassing
and intimidating employees.

The nursing home did not detail the threats, but union
representatives say the voodoo accusations are in documents
to be made public at a National Labor Relations Board
hearing scheduled for Monday.

A lawyer for Mount Sinai-St. Francis declined comment on
any issues that might come up during the hearing. The
attorney, Susan Potter Norton, dismissed the SEIU news
conference as "insignificant.""This is pretty standard for
the SEIU," she said.

Jennifer Burgess-Solomon, supervisory attorney for the
National Labor Relations Board, said she could not comment
on an ongoing case.

The SEIU alleges that workers at the nursing home receive
low pay, have unaffordable health insurance and are treated
disrespectfully. They have also accused Mount Sinai-St.
Francis of union-busting and retaliatory tactics.

Madeline Baró Diaz can be reached at mbaro@sun-sentinel.com
or 305-810-5007.







Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel


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