AVH WILL BEGIN TALKS WITH UNION.

Byline: Marci Wormser Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Antelope Valley Hospital administrators will open negotiations with the California Nurses Association after accepting the union as the representative of the hospital's registered nurses.

CNA organizing director Beth Kean said she expects negotiations to begin this month over issues including salary, overtime pay, staffing levels and the recruitment and retention of nurses, and that talks will last several months.

``Both things have been the biggest problems the hospital has had,'' Kean said of staffing levels and nurse recruitment.

Coming after nearly a year of controversy over the unionization effort, the recognition doesn't mean an end to union turmoil: a second union in competition with the CNA is also seeking to represent hospital workers and has filed a complaint with the state labor board.

The hospital board voted 4-0 last week to recognize the CNA after a count of cards turned in by union supporters showed that a majority of nurses wanted the union to represent them, officials said. Trustee Steve Fox abstained.

The actual count was not disclosed. Kean said the card counting stopped after the majority was reached.

But the board's action drew objections from members of Service Employees International Union, a CNA competitor that seeks to represent other hospital employees as well as nurses.

SEIU organizer Rex Lai told trustees that accepting the CNA count would violate hospital policy because it did not count other medical professionals who are not nurses, including clinical dietitians, medical technicians and physical therapists.

The SEIU complained last month to the California Public Employment Relations Board, which issued its own complaint against the hospital, Lai said.

``I warned them they're getting in sticky legal trouble,'' Lai said of the hospital board. ``They might be forced to recount.''

Trustee June Snow said the hospital board was merely following an order issued by the labor board last October to count the CNA authorization cards.

``The PERB issued a ruling last October saying that we had to go forward with the count,'' Snow said. ``We are not purposely not counting anything. ``We are following the law to the letter.''

Kean said she does not expect the SEIU complaint to affect the hospital's acceptance of the CNA to represent nurses.

`'We see (SEIU) as spitting in the wind,'' Kean said. ``We're not worrying about it at all.''

She added: ``We see (SEIU) as trying to prevent registered nurses from having a voice.''

The CNA has a sister union, the Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union, which is seeking to represent non-nursing hospital workers.

Lai said Antelope Valley Hospital rules require registered nurses to be included with other health care professionals in unionization decisions.

``I don't know whether they're confused or blatantly disregarded it,'' Lai said.

Snow said she was offended by what she considered threats by Lai before the board's vote to recognize the CNA.

``He kind of made a threat saying SEIU is the purple machine,'' she said. Purple is the color of the union's jackets. ``He said, 'We can be good purple or bad purple.' I didn't particularly care for it.''

The hospital board last year resisted recognizing the CNA as the nurses' representatives, saying hospital rules required a secret-ballot election rather than the authorization cards.

But the board dropped its opposition after the PERB ruling in October and the November election defeat of two board incumbents by Snow and Dr. Don Parazo, who had been supported in their campaigns by the CNA.