Some 725 registered nurses at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., won representation from California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) last week after beating back what they say was a “furious anti-union campaign by hospital management and its high paid anti-union consultants.”

Caroline Gallego, a 24-year labor and delivery RN, said after the election victory,

United with my co-workers, we have never felt so empowered. We need improvements in staffing…and look forward to gaining a real voice in patient care.

NNU organizing director David Johnson said,

The hospital’s conduct was an appalling affront to the nurses and patients in this community …. with this victory, RNs at Little Company of Mary have spoken for thousands of other RNs who are also organizing with NNU to confront the massive changes in healthcare that threaten nurses’ ability to effectively advocate for their patients, and themselves.

Providence is one of the largest Catholic hospital chains in the United States, operating 32 hospitals in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Montana and California. CNA called the intimidation and coercion tactics of RNs by the hospital “antithetic” to the values of workers’ rights espoused by many church-affiliated institutions

CNA now represents some 1,500 overall in the Providence chain in Los Angeles County, including RNs at Providence Little Company of Mary San Pedro and Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, a hospital Providence is in the process of purchasing

The vote is believed to be the single largest non-union RN election win in the United States since a 2006 election win by CNA at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, Calif.