has anybody seen this yet??  it's unbelievable.  some group from California actually stopped nurses from getting a contract.  this letter is being passed around that explains the whole thing.

March 12, 2008


Dear Rose Ann DeMoro,

It’s hard for us to imagine how someone who calls herself a labor leader could purposely do what you have done to us and our families. You don’t know any of us. You have never been to our homes or met our children. You have never visited us on our shifts, or walked in our shoes. You don’t know a thing a bout the struggle that brought us to the verge of our dream to have a union. And yet without talking to a single one of us you send your bullying staff to come in and spread terrible lies for no other reason than to destroy what we worked so hard to build.

For three years we have worked with SEIU members, leaders and staff to form our union. We sent letters to hospital officials and mobilized community support for fair organizing rules. SEIU has supported and encouraged us through some very hard times, and helped us stand up for ourselves. We are caregivers—registered nurses and respiratory therapists, dietary and housekeeping staff, lab techs and other employees. SEIU helped us understand how we could do more by speaking with one voice and standing together for our families and our patients. SEIU respected our intelligence and our ability to make our own decisions.

You say you stand for democracy. But then you come in with a goal of destroying our campaign without ever asking us what we think about SEIU and our agreement for fair election ground rules—ground rules we now understand you have made use of many times in California.

You say you stand for justice. But then you deny us our opportunity for a fair vote free of misleading propaganda and scare tactics.

Our efforts to unite for better jobs and health care were not a secret. At any time during those three years you could have come and presented your union, compared yourself to SEIU, and asked us to make a choice. But you didn’t. So it is obvious to us that your sole intention was to destroy what we have built. What kind of organization sets out to destroy the efforts of the very people you claim to stand for, and then tries to pretend it’s a moral cause?

Here in Ohio, union organizers and representatives don’t behave the way yours do. They show respect for hard-working people. We have read all the words about how you try to justify this, but when compared to the needs of our families and the needs of our patients, they show a complete disregard for basic fairness and decency. You have brought harm to thousands of workers and families in Ohio, and you should be ashamed of what you have done.

Signed,

Linda Kirby, RN
Mercy Anderson
Anderson Township, OH

Sue Koch
ER Tech
Mercy Western Hills
Cincinnati, OH

Barbara Matlie, RN
Mercy Western Hills
Cincinnati, OH

Michaela Silver, RCP
Springfield Regional Medical Center
Springfield, OH

Diana Stamler, RN
Mercy Fairfield
Fairfield, OH

Sally Baker, RN
Springfield Regional Medical Center
Springfield, OH

Mary Ann Wolf,
Lead Cook
Mercy Anderson
Anderson Township, OH

Peggy Vaughn, RN
Mercy Western Hills
Cincinnati, OH

Sue Allen, RN
Springfield Regional Medical Center
Springfield, OH

Lorie Compton, RCP
Mercy Memorial Hospital
Urbana, OH

Colleen Gresham, RN
Mercy Mt. Airy
Cincinnati, OH

Betty White, MLT
Mercy Fairfield
Fairfield, OH

Susan Home, RN
Mercy Mt. Airy
Cincinnati, OH

Alecia Davis, RN
Springfield Regional Medical Center
Springfield, OH

Marianne Heider, RN
Mercy Western Hills
Cincinnati, OH