We Marched in Solidarity...

Now, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange Are Taking the Wrong Path.

On Saturday, July 26, join SJHS workers, veterans of the 1973 Grape Strike and union members from throughout Orange County to call on Sister Katherine Gray, csj and the Community of St. Joseph of Orange to return to their proud tradition and righteous values.

When: Saturday, July 26, 10 AM March and Rally
Where: Santiago Park 2535 N. Main St., Santa Ana, CA 92706
March to: Sisters of St. Joseph Mother House, 480 S. Batavia St., Orange, CA 92706

RSVP Online: YES! I will march on Saturday, July 26 to call on the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange to allow free and fair union elections for their workers.

For decades, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange have fought for justice for California's workers. In the summer of 1973, they marched in solidarity with César Chávez and farm workers during the brutal Grape Strike. The Sisters put their personal safety at risk, walking picket lines and even going to jail with the workers.

But now, the Sisters are refusing to show their own workers the same justice they once fought so hard for.

Over the last three years, workers in the St. Joseph Health System (SJHS), who care for the sick and vulnerable in our community, have been working to form a union so they can have a real say in the decisions that affect their patients, their families and themselves.

But the Sisters who founded and hold majority control of the Board of SJHS, a $3.5 billion system of hospitals and clinics, sadly, are using heavy-handed tactics similar to those used by other major corporations to deny workers a free choice about whether to form a union. Public records show, and SJHS workers have told me directly, that the SJHS management is fighting their efforts and violating federal labor law by threatening union supporters with arrest and job loss and denying them free speech.

How can the Sisters support farm workers' efforts to form a union but fight their own employees who are seeking the same basic right? Is there such a big difference between the people who feed us and the people who heal us? Clearly there is not.

It is time for the Sisters to address this moral crisis and reclaim their proud legacy by once again living up to the ideals of St. Joseph, the patron saint of workers. It is time the Sisters allow their workers the right to a free and fair union vote without management interference.

I call upon the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange to do what they know to be right and allow their own workers the same justice and respect they've shown other working people.

Please Join Us. RSVP Online: YES! I will march on Saturday, July 26

For more info Email: info@voiceatsaintjoes.com, Phone: 323-215-8867
Web: VoiceAtSaintJoes.org

Sincerely,
St. Joseph Health System Organizing Committee