NORTHAMPTON — One of the largest employers in the city agreed Monday to enter into a labor process that could unionize as many as 500 workers.
Some 300 nurses at Cooley Dickinson Hospital are already represented by the Massachusetts Nurses’ Association, but a new agreement CDH entered into with 1199 Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers East targets administrative and technical staff at the Northampton hospital.
“CDH respects the right of employees to vote for or against joining 1199 Service Employees International Union. However, we do not believe that having a union is in the best interests of the employees, patients or the community and do not believe that employees need a union to represent them,” Julia Sorensen, chief marketing and communications officer for the hospital, wrote in a statement. “This organizing effort is designed to ensure the right of workers to make free and fully informed decisions on the question of unionization through the process of a secret ballot election.”
Sorensen said the election regarding whether or not to unionize will happen within 75 days, assuming SEIU garners enough support ahead of time.
“This agreement is another important step in our ongoing advocacy to ensure all workers — including those not yet unionized — have good jobs, fair wages and respect, dignity and a voice in the workplace,” Tyrék D. Lee, Sr., executive vice president for SEIU, said in a statement. “It is our hope that throughout our organizing campaign at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, we can demonstrate our union difference to the approximately 500 service and technical workers at Cooley — that uniting with over 56,000 1199SEIU healthcare workers across Massachusetts and more than 400,000 on the east coast gives us the stability, strength and voice to build power for working families, fight for healthy and just communities and provide the quality care our patients need and deserve.”
Neither the hospital nor the union could detail any labor issues behind the effort. Nikko Mendoza, communications director for SEIU, said the union has not yet entered the phase of the process where they discuss working conditions with employees.
“These types of free and fair election agreements — it’s a common practice between employers and unions,” Mendoza said. “This is not unique to Massachusetts, not unique to us at 1199.”
Sorensen said the hospital entered the process voluntarily.
“We pursued this agreement together to support the rights of workers to make free and informed decisions on this question,” Sorensen said.
Cooley Dickinson hospital employs about 1,800 people. Doctors at the hospital are not unionized. SEIU represents about 56,000 workers across Massachusetts.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.