On June 8-9, the National Labor Relations Board Subregion 36 ran two union-certification elections at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center and counted the ballots in the evening June 9.

Health care workers in technical roles at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center recently voted decisively to unionize.

The hospital’s ancillary workers, however, must wait to learn whether they will be represented by a labor union.

On June 8-9, the National Labor Relations Board Subregion 36 ran two union-certification elections at the Medford hospital and counted the ballots in the evening of June 9.

The technical workers — aka allied health professionals — joined the Oregon Nurses Association, with 128 workers voting “yes” and 92 voting “no.”

About 270 gained representation, include surgical technicians, licensed practical nurses, respiratory therapists, radiologic technologists and physical and occupational therapy assistants, ONA said in a release. The association already represents the hospital’s registered nurses.

Asante’s ancillary workers — which include certified nursing assistants, food service workers, housekeepers and custodial staff — also voted on whether to unionize.

By the evening of June 9, the results, were “too early to determine an outcome,” Service Employees International Union Local 49, which would represent the workers, said in a release.

Of the 1,113 workers deemed eligible to participate in the election, 876 turned in ballots. Of these, 436 had voted “yes,” and 440 had voted “no,” said Alan Dubinsky, communications director at SEIU Local 49, in an interview.

An additional 67 ballots are being challenged by SEIU Local 49 and Asante. In question is whether the voters qualified as part of the ancillary group, which the NLRB classifies as “nonprofessional workers.”

The NLRB will soon set a hearing to review the 67 ballots and determine the voters’ eligibility.

It is unclear how long it will take to resolve the contested ballots. The workers in limbo hope the NLRB expedites the process, Dubinsky said.

SEIU Local 49 is confident that the workers will win their union at Asante and become members, Dubinsky said.

The ONA and SEIU Local 49 worked together to organize the Asante employees, who cited low staffing levels and low wages among the reasons behind the unionization push.

Rachel Bokish, a perinatal technician and licensed practical nurse at Asante, said she and her co-workers observed how registered nurses benefited from ONA membership. During the coronavirus pandemic, RNs received bonuses and other incentives that, as a perinatal tech, she did not qualify for.

“Even if we worked an extra shift or anything like that, we were not eligible for any of those bonuses,” Bokish said. “So that kind of put into light how we felt Asante felt about us, and kind of pushed most of us to really want to unionize.”

She said it was nice to see the different medical disciplines unite around a shared goal. “Everybody worked really well as a team to get this done,” she said, “and it’s an exciting future.”

Soon Bokish and her fellow technical workers will nominate and elect bargaining representatives, who will negotiate a contract with Asante.

Myrna Jensen, an ONA communications specialist, said of the association’s new members, “They are experts in their fields, and they do not feel that the hospital is recognizing that. They want to be able to have a say in patient treatment, in scheduling, in what is possible and what isn’t possible, because they feel like folks in the corporate ownership model are strictly focused on the bottom line. They’re not looking at the caregivers and the patients that bring in the money.

“So they are frustrated. They are frustrated with that,” she continued. “And we are seeing a swell of it nationally.”

Asante employees recalled feeling caught in the opposing forces of the hospital and the unionizers.

Brandy Anderson, a certified nursing assistant at Asante, said SEIU Local 49 employees came to her door to ask how she felt about the election and had her sign a paper indicating when and how she would vote.

“I was a little concerned and felt uneasy in that moment,” she said in a text message, “but remembered no one will know one way or the other which way I vote in the end.”

Meanwhile, after Asante received petitions filed by the ONA and SEIU Local 49 in late April, hospital management worked to dissuade workers from unionizing — through meetings, mailings, texts and other methods.

A letter — dated May 2 and signed by Roy Vinyard, interim president and CEO at Asante — that went out to ancillary employees, for example, encourages them to “keep an open mind” and advises:

“How you vote is your decision. Asante, however, opposes the SEIU’s efforts to represent this group of employees because we want to protect our ability to continue working together directly with you to address workplace issues. While Asante recognizes some employees feel let down by the organization, Asante firmly believes together we can achieve a work environment that makes employees proud.”

The hospital also sent information about SEIU Local 49 and cautioned employees to weigh the risks against the benefits of unionizing.

“That is a common tactic,” Dubinsky said.

In the run-up to the election, text messages from Asante went out urging employees to “Vote No.”

The Asante elections came several weeks after emergency room providers at Providence Medford Medical Center unionized in partnership with the ONA and Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association.