On the heels of a Friday afternoon announcement that nurses at Cottage Health intend to unionize, nurses on Tuesday officially filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board.
They are seeking to join SEIU 121RN, a labor union headquartered in Pasadena that represents over 11,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals in Southern California.
Union leadership said last week that they met the 30% threshold necessary to call for a vote. They declined to release the exact number of cards, but said it was in the “hundreds.”
Cottage Health spokesperson Cristina Cortez said last week that the union has not “disclosed to us the number of authorization cards it has collected, but many Cottage nurses have voiced opposition to the union drive.”
Chief Nursing Officer Laura Canfield said Cottage Health is “very, very proud of the work that nurses do” for the community.
“We believe that direct communication helps solve challenges and addresses the complexities of healthcare today, more efficiently, more nimbly, than having to go through a third party,” she told Noozhawk.
All regular full-time, part-time and per diem registered nurses employed at the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital facility would have the chance to vote on a secret ballot once the vote is scheduled.
A union spokesperson told Noozhawk on Tuesday that they expect the National Labor Relations Board to schedule an election in the next few weeks.
Per information filed with the National Labor Relations Board, that vote would be held among 40 nurses at the Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital, 103 nurses at the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital and 1,153 nurses at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
To approve a union, 50% plus 1 of all eligible voters would need to vote yes.
SEIU union dues at Cottage Health would come out to 1.65% of a nurse’s base pay per paycheck, per organizers.
Standing in front of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, nurses said on Friday that they want to join a union because of wage transparency, high pay for Cottage executives, high costs of living and changes to a long-term leave policy.
Speakers said some nurses live paycheck to paycheck and have long commutes to work because they cannot afford to live in the South County areas.
“Unfortunately, I am one of the first in my family who is coming to terms with the fact that I may never be able to afford to live in Santa Barbara because Cottage does not compensate me enough to keep up with the cost of living,” nurse Claire Upton said.
They were supported last week by Santa Barbara City Council members Wendy Santamaria and Kristen Sneddon.
“Your city leaders are behind you,” Santamaria said.
In a social media account created to share information about the union drive, nurses said they feel their concerns about compensation, staffing, benefits and workplace decisions haven’t been heard through the “existing workplace channels.”
Cottage Health currently has a shared-governance system: a self-governing, coordinated council of inter-professional staff that are elected by their peers to talk about issues.
Cottage Health spokespeople told Noozhawk that the majority of nurses are classified under the position of Clinical Nurse 2, with pay ranging from $59.57 to $89 an hour.
The average Clinical Nurse 2 makes $68.62 an hour.
Cortez said nurses have received consistent raises during the past five years, including 6% in 2022, 6.3% in 2023, 5.4% in 2024, 6.3% in 2025 and 6.3% in 2026.
Canfield, the chief nursing officer, said nurses’ wages are assessed annually based on data from nearby markets and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reimbursement rate.
Nurses also have access to subsidized housing and childcare, per Canfield.
