Dates are set for CHOMP nurses to vote on unionizing.

Registered nurses at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula will have three days in late January—Wednesday, Jan. 28, Thursday, Jan. 29 and Friday, Jan. 30—to vote on whether to be represented by the California Nurses Association, it was announced on Friday, Dec. 26.

The secret ballot election will take place on the CHOMP campus during set times, conducted by federal agents from the National Labor Relations Board.

The platform in favor of unionizing includes enforcing nurse to patient ratios, job security, effective safety and workplace violence prevention protocols, safe staff floating practices and rest between work shifts and better policies and raise guarantees to retain nurses. Nurses are also asking for a greater voice in decision-making on patient safety issues.

According to a Notice of Election released by the NLRB on Monday, Dec. 29, those nurses eligible to vote include all regular full-time, part-time and per-diem registered nurses at CHOMP, during the payroll period ending Dec. 11. Employees who have worked an average of four hours or more per week during the 13 weeks immediately preceding Dec. 11 are also eligible to vote.

A sample of the "Official Secret Ballot" asks a simple "yes" or "no" question, whether the nurses wish to be represented by the CNA for the purposes of collective bargaining.

Nurses began organizing early in 2025, with a majority indicating they wanted to form a union by late fall. The CNA filed an intent to unionize with the NLRB on Friday, Dec. 5. Nurses immediately began campaigning as the two sides worked with the NLRB on dates for an election.

If the election is successful, it will be the first union in CHOMP's 91-year history.