Allysha Almada. Photo grabbed from the AFL-CIO website

CALIFORNIA - A Filipino-American nurse, who claims that her hospital fired her as part of a union blocking tactic, has been invited by no less than US President Barack Obama.

Allysha Almada is heading to the nation's capital after she was invited by Obama to attend the White House Summit on Worker Voice. While in Washington DC, she will also meet with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) as well as democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

"With Senator Sanders, I'll actually be doing a press conference with him. He's introducing a new piece of legislation called the Workplace Democracy Act. That is very important because it's going to definitely help and restore workers' rights to organize and to bring a union into their workplace," Almada said.

Almada was fired from Huntington Hospital earlier this year.

She claims the hospital had targeted union advocates. Almada and other nurses were trying to organize the nurses and form a union that would advocate for work condition, patient care issues, and salary. She had spoken about the issues at community forum and town hall weeks before her firing.

"They said I had just violated hospital policies but it is definitely clearly retaliation during the sequence of events and because of what I've been trying to advocate for. They fired me because I've been advocating for nurses to have a voice at Huntington hospital," she said.



Dozens of co-workers, union leaders, and the Pasadena City Council gave her a send-off before her trip to Washington DC. The summit takes place on October 7.

Since the firing, the National Labor Relations Board has launched an investigation into the hospital alleged union busting practices.

The hospital's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Noble declined to comment on Almada's case but he assured that the "hospital's guiding principles in decision making are based on ensuring patient safety - and providing the quality care we have consistently delivered as a trusted community resource."

The hospital added that it is eager for the results of the NLRB's election, so the hospital and staff can move forward.

A petition calling for Almada's reinstatement will be given to Huntington hospital officials. Almada would like to return not only to return as a nurse but to continue the fight for patient safety and working conditions.

Read more on Balitang America.