New York isn't the only place with CBA problems after all

San Francisco has the Hunter's Point CBA, which was called a "big victory" when it was finalized in 2008.

But now there's another CBA campaign on in the city by the bay, and it doesn't look so promising. The controversy concerns a 550-bed megahospital being proposed by Sutter Health, which will allow Sutter to reduce its acute care services at the existing St. Luke's hospital. St. Luke's is located in the Mission, which has a large Latino population, and two coalitions have formed to address issues relating to health justice and equity. As Randy Shaw explains in a BeyondChron article, "the California Nurses Association and virtually every health care advocacy group is fighting save St. Luke's Hospital and force Sutter to sign an enforceable agreement protecting the community".

Sounds like a strong campaign. Except that the healthcare workers' union, SEIU-UHW, undercut the coalition by signing its own agreement with Sutter. In the Side Letter, the union agreed to publicly and privately support the project, and it authorized Sutter to assign union employees to outreach work building support for the project.

According to Shaw, the community's reaction to SEIU-UHW's side deal has been mostly negative. The vice president of the other healthcare workers' union, NUHW, explained that "there is no way NUHW would have made such a deal with Sutter. We always felt it important to work with the community regarding this project.” SEIU-UHW, according to Shaw, has become disengaged from other healthcare advocacy groups in the city and from elected officials. Although the San Francisco Building Trades are siding with SEIU-UHW, "the Building Trades supports virtually every construction project proposed in San Francisco, and – unlike SEIU-UHW – does not claim protecting patient care and health equity as part of its mission."

A CBA for San Francisco's Hunter Point

From Julian Gross, the director of the Community Benefits Law Center:

Last week, the San Francisco Labor Council, ACORN, and the San Francisco Organizing Project entered into a community benefits agreement regarding a major development in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.

Under the CBA, Lennar, a national housing developer, agreed that if the project moves forward, Lennar will:

• ensure that 32% of housing units built within the project are affordable, at a range of income levels;

• provide over $27 million in housing assistance funds targeted to neighborhood residents, including down payment assistance enabling additional units to be sold below market rates;

• provide over $8.5 million in job training funds targeted to neighborhood residents;

• ensure that all project employers participate in a state-of-the-art local hiring program; and

• ensure labor peace in key industries within the project.

Since all of these benefits are contained in the CBA, they are legally binding and enforceable by the Labor Council, ACORN, and SFOP. In light of these commitments by the developer, these organizations took strong, public positions in support of the project on two key ballot initiatives presented to the voters on June 3.

On election day, San Francisco voters agreed with the Mayor, the developer, and the organizations signing the CBA that the project should move forward. An overview of the project and the dueling ballot initiatives is available here.

As the project is just beginning the formal approval process, there will be numerous opportunities for community members who did not participate in the CBA process to help shape the project by working with public bodies.

This CBA represents a historic labor-community partnership in San Francisco, laying the groundwork for future coalition-based advocacy in the city. Julian Gross, Legal Director of the Partnership for Working Families, represented the coalition in negotiations.