Hahnemann nurses vote down unions

Nurses at Hahnemann University Hospital have voted 309 to 267 against unionizing, but two unions involved in organizing at the Center City hospital - the California Nurses Association and Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals - say they will contest the vote with the National Labor Relations Board.

The vote took place in June but results were made public today.

Tenet Healthcare Corp., which owns Hahnemann, agreed last summer to allow the unions to talk with its nurses. Michael Halter, Hahnemann's chief executive officer, said the agreement, which the hospital followed "very closely," required management to remain neutral.

But Bill Cruice, PASNAP's executive director, said anti-union nurses aided by a conservative legal group were given better access than pro-union forces, creating a "terribly uneven playing field." He said he was confident the vote would be overturned. - Stacey Burling