CHARGE NURSES FOUND ELIGIBLE TO VOTE ON UNION ISSUE.

Byline: Marci Wormser Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Antelope Valley Hospital trustees Wednesday agreed to recognize supervisory or charge nurses as eligible to vote in deciding whether the California Nurses Association should represent the hospital's nurses.

The charge nurses gave trustees petitions Wednesday night saying they would give up their extra responsibilities if the hospital does not count their votes on the union issue.

``I'm very concerned my vote will not count,'' charge nurse Melanie Dundes told trustees. ``If this happens, you will have effectively eliminated the charge nurse program at this hospital.''

The board voted 4-0 favor of counting the charge nurses' union-authorization cards. Trustee Steve Fox abstained.

Hospital officials have been locked in controversy over the unionization campaign since last spring, before two incumbents were defeated in the November election and replaced with two challengers supported by the nurses union.

Nurses union supporters said nurses last May turned in enough cards to qualify the union as their representative. The cards have not yet been counted.

Hospital officials had been regarding charge nurses as managers and thus not eligible to be union members, since they give direction to other nurses.

Dundes presented a petition that she said was signed by her entire nursing unit in support of the charge nurses' stand. Other nurses vowed not to take over the duties if the charge nurses stepped down, she said.

Nurse Melony Evans said charge nurses have no managerial powers, cannot determine budgets or evaluate employees and should be eligible for representation.

Mental health nurse Eugene Mayer also presented a petition to trustees with signatures from 12 of the unit's 15 nurses stating they will step down as charge nurses if their cards are not counted.

California Nurses Association organizing director Beth Kean said that in similar cases charge nurses have had their votes counted. Also, Kean said that the charge nurses are not management because there are no regulations stating that other nurses must report to them.

However, Rex Lai, a representative of Service Employees International Union, opposed the action. SEIU is competing with CNA to represent the nurses and other hospital employees.

Lai said that voting to approve the motion was illegal and that the board's action should be tabled for a subsequent meeting. Lai called on the hospital chief executive officer, Mathew Abraham, to select an election supervisor to oversee the issue.

However, board attorney Frank Michelizzi urged trustees to vote on the motion pending approval from the board's legal firm. If firm representatives say the board's action was unlawful, then it will be null and void, he said.

``I want to let the nurses decide,'' said board member Dr. Don Parazo, whom the CNA had supported in the November election. ``I want to let the nurses be represented by who they want.''

Last month, hospital officials decided not to appeal a judge's decision ordering recognition of the union-authorization cards.

In October, Administrative Law Judge Donn Ginoza sided with CNA in its dispute with the hospital, saying hospital officials violated state law by interfering with unionization attempts.

Ginoza said that officials unlawfully refused to take part in the count of cards .

Hospital officials had maintained that some nurses signed the cards not knowing it was an actual vote. Union supporters countered that it was made very clear to workers what the cards represented.