Nevada health care workers join NHP troopers, state mental health employees in unionizing

Add Nevada health care workers to the growing list of state employees joining a union.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, on Tuesday announced state regulators had OK’d its bid to represent state-hired professional and non-professional health care workers, as well as category III peace officers.

That group includes some 3,500 state psychiatric hospital workers, child care providers, nurses, psychologists and jail officers.

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They count as the fourth batch of employees to unionize after the Legislature passed a bill that allowed some state workers to collectively bargain.

Highway patrol officers, park rangers and mental and behavioral health workers have also opted to unionize in the months since the new law took effect.

"This is an exciting day for AFSCME Local 4041 members,” union President Harry Schiffman said in a statement. “We are one step closer to taking our seat at the bargaining table to negotiate wages, working conditions and safety on the job, and resources so we can continue to provide our communities with the best services possible.

“Thousands of Nevada state employees are ready to make changes in our workplaces through collective bargaining, and thousands more will join soon as additional units ready to file for exclusive representation as AFSCME.”

Schiffman said AFSCME members expect to head to the bargaining table with the state of Nevada in the coming months.

The union now represents 1.4 million public service workers across the country.

For more information on the union’s new members, visit nvafscme.org.

James DeHaven is the politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal. He covers campaigns, the Nevada Legislature and everything in between. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com right here.