Union Rejects Proposed Hospital Accord

An attempt by Cardinal Roger Mahony to break the impasse between Catholic Healthcare West and a labor union seeking to represent thousands of its employees failed Thursday morning after a 45-minute meeting between the two parties ended with no agreement. The Service Employees International Union has alleged that managers at three Los Angeles-area CHW hospitals--St. Francis, Robert F. Kennedy and St. Vincent--have violated Catholic Church teachings by aggressively campaigning against the union. The 48-hospital system is owned and operated by nine orders of nuns. In an agreement hammered out with Mahony, CHW agreed to dismiss an anti-union consultant and refrain from negative campaigning. In turn, it asked the union to file for a federal representation election this week and to schedule the election within 45 days. A union spokeswoman said the CHW pledge was not sufficiently specific and that the SEIU would not file for election at this time. In a statement, CHW management called the union’s demands “unreasonable.”