Support and administrative workers at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia have voted in favor of removing District 1199C, an affiliate of the national AFSCME union, as their bargaining representative.
The vote follows hospital employee Shidiah Jackson's submission of a petition to the National Labor Relations Board, which had signatures from enough of her co-workers for a union decertification vote, according to a news release from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which assisted in the petition effort. The foundation is a nonprofit with a mission "to eliminate coercive union power and compulsory unionism abuses through strategic litigation, public information and education programs."
Nearly 60% of those participating in the election voted in favor of removing the union, according to the foundation. The vote occurred in late November, and the National Labor Relations Board certified the results of the election in December.
The foundation said approximately 277 medical assistants, office coordinators, medical secretaries and other support employees were represented by the union, with 224 members voting, according to the National Labor Relations Board. The workers unionized in 2016.
A spokesperson for the hospital's parent organization, West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health, shared the following statement with Becker's: "We respect the employees' decision in this election, and we look forward to working collaboratively with them to partner on initiatives that ensure St. Christopher's remains a great place to work and learn."
Ms. Jackson said in the foundation release: "AFSCME union officials were taking money from many employees' paychecks but didn't advocate effectively for me or my colleagues. I'm glad that we were able to exercise our right to remove the AFSCME, and I think we will be able to serve the hospital's medical staff and patients better with the union gone."
Union president John Hundzynski declined to comment to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Becker's also reached out to the union and will update the story if more information becomes available.