Nurses seek removal of SEIU amid policy shifts impacting decertification votes

Despite having enough signatures for a decertification vote, recent changes in NLRB policy under the Biden-Harris Administration could hinder this process. The new policy reinstates "blocking charges," which are often unproven allegations of employer misconduct used by unions to delay decertification votes. SEIU leaders are reportedly using these charges against the nurses' efforts.

"My fellow nurses and I are not pleased with the performance of 1199SEIU union officials and simply want to exercise our right to vote out this union," stated Bombaro. She expressed frustration over policies that allow union officials to prevent them from voting.

The Biden-Harris NLRB's rule change reverses previous reforms known as the Election Protection Rule, which were designed to prevent blocking charges from halting worker-requested decertification elections and allowed secret ballot petitions after unions gained power through "card check."

Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, criticized the new rule: "Just weeks after the Biden-Harris NLRB enacted its cynical rule change, union officials are already manipulating it to maintain their own power while crushing the free choice rights of the workers they claim to ‘represent.’"

Bombaro and her colleagues represent a growing number of workers seeking independence from unwanted unions amid political changes perceived as favoring organized labor over individual worker rights.