Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital announced last week that they will no longer recognize Service Employees International Union Local 715, sparking controversy between hospital administrators and healthcare workers. Affected workers have since filed for new union representation.

In 1998, SEIU Local 715 was elected by Stanford healthcare workers to represent approximately 1,450 non-technical employees, including housekeepers, food service workers, nursing assistants, phlebotomists, unit secretaries and transporters.

Stanford representatives withdrew recognition of SEIU Local 715 due to internal confusions within the union itself.

“SEIU had a lot of internal transfers and movements,” said Sarah Staley, director of communications for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. “Since March of 2007, we have repeatedly attempted to contact Local 715 to prove if they are still in existence. Due to their lack of responsiveness, and due largely to the fact that they have failed to represent our employees — which they had been elected to do — we feel it is necessary to withdraw our recognition of them.”

There certainly has been a lot of internal activity by the union; in 2006, five local unions merged, including SEIU Local 715 and United Healthcare Workers. This formed the SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West union, which now represents over 150,000 healthcare employees and is one of the largest growing hospital and healthcare unions in the western United States.

Still, union representatives don’t think the mergers justify Stanford’s latest actions.

“This is only the latest attempt in Stanford’s high-priced attorneys’ efforts to avoid recognition of healthcare workers’ rights,” said United Healthcare Workers Vice President John Borsos.

Staley disagrees, pointing out the technicalities of the union election.

“Our employees only elected SEIU Local 715 as union representatives,” she said. “Thus, we can only work with that union.”

Stanford hospital representatives also pointed out that healthcare employees are free to hold another election to elect a new healthcare union.

“Theoretically, healthcare employees can join another union, but fairness and law requires that they will have another election to obtain that representation,” Staley said. “We can’t recognize or work with any organization other than that which has been elected by our employees.”

However, Stanford officials argue that union representation does not fundamentally affect healthcare workers’ compensation or representation in the hospital, and that former union members will not be affected by Stanford’s decision to no longer recognize SEIU Local 715.

“Our hospitals remain committed to competitive wages and benefits, whether our employees are represented by a union or not,” Staley added.

But SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West argues that union representation allows healthcare workers to have a voice in workplace operations, wages, working conditions, job security provisions and pension plans.

“It’s appalling that Stanford is one the most affluent and profitable institutions in all of California, and yet their hospitals don’t meet industry standards in working conditions for caregivers,” Borsos said. “Stanford should be leading the way for industry standards, not falling to the bottom.”

Based on recent protests, Stanford healthcare employees seem to agree.

At 11 a.m. last Thursday, a number of Stanford hospital workers, along with Menlo Park mayor Andrew Cohen, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber and Assemblyman Ira Rushkin, held a press conference announcing the hospital employees’ intent to petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a union election.

Tensions rose when Lieber was barred from entering SHC to deliver an open letter, signed by 25 caregivers working at SHC and LPCH, urging Stanford hospital management to remain neutral and open-minded toward employees seeking union representation.

“SEIU has been at Stanford since 1998, and the Stanford chapter of SEIU is a strong one,” Bursos said. “The healthcare workers petitioning want to be represented by SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West, so we will proceed as fast as we can in response to the recent act of aggression on the part of Stanford.”