This is a developing story and will be updated as we receive more information.
Nurses at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca have successfully unionized with the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
The union and the hospital announced the results of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised election Thursday afternoon.
The union has called for more nurses per patient, guaranteed lunch breaks with safe staffing levels, and pay that matches national standards.
Eighty-two percent of nurses voted to unionize, according to the union. Cayuga United-CWA will represent over 350 employees at the hospital.
“We are laying the groundwork for the generations of nurses to come after us, and we’re already hearing from other medical professionals inspired to join us,” Registered Nurse Morgan Downing said in a statement released by the CWA. “I am so excited to have my seat at the table alongside my fellow nurses to start bargaining for our first contract. We are united and ready to continue to advocate for ourselves, our patients and our community.
Rob Lawlis, CEO of Centralus, the larger company the hospital is a part of, released a statement following the vote.
“We respect the decision of our nursing staff. This outcome reflects the perspectives and concerns many of our nurses have shared. Cayuga Medical Center is committed to working professionally and in good faith as we move forward, including our negotiations with the CWA,” Lawlis wrote.
The statement from CWA also said nurses at the hospital's offsite Cancer Center and Surgicare Center are making moves towards unionization too, with a supermajority of nurses signing union authorization cards.
