PASADENA >> Several dozen nurses, community leaders and union officials clashed Thursday morning outside Huntington Memorial Hospital over whether the hospital’s nurses want to form a union.

The California Nurses Association wanted to announce that nurses will be able to vote for a union, but that announcement was interrupted by shouts from both sides.

“It’s important that each individual nurse comes to their decision, well informed for both sides,” said Dolly Wilson, an emergency room nurse at Huntington for two years who spoke in support of the union effort.

Nurses protesting at the rally said a “majority” of the hospital’s nurses do not support the union and frequently booed and accused the speakers and CNA officials of lying about hospital conditions.

“There have been so many lies trying to convince people to go union,” said Lyn Riley, an emergency room nurse at Huntington for 14 years. “We believe that we can maintain the quality of patient care without getting a union.”

A group of nurses has been in talks with CNA organizers since May to form a union at the hospital, citing poor work conditions and diminished morale among employees. Since then, the pro-union nurses said they have been interrogated and pressured by hospital administrators, while anti-union nurses say non-employees have been entering the hospital to discuss union activities after supervisors have left.

Both sides also accused the other of questionable tactics, with protesters saying the pro-union supporters were paid by CNA or non-Huntington employees, while pro-union nurses said the protesters were mainly supervisors and non-bedside nurses who would not be allowed to vote for the union anyway.

Hospital administrators say they respects employees’ right to voluntarily unionize.

“However, we do not believe a union is necessary in our relationship with employees,” Huntington Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive Gloria Sanchez-Rico wrote in a statement. “We believe that a union would compromise our flexibility and the spirit of cooperation, internal sense of community, and unifying focus on high-quality, compassionate care that we provide to our patients.”

Pasadena councilmembers Jacque Robinson and Victor Gordo and representatives from Congresswoman Judy Chu, Congressman Adam Schiff, state Sen. Carol Liu and Assemblyman Chris Holden’s offices attended and said they supported the nurses’ right to have a vote on whether to unionize.

A date for the union vote has not been announced. National Labor Relations Board officials will count the votes.