Talk of voodoo sparks outrage

It's not a typical union-management battle: One of the nation's largest nursing home companies is charging that some Haitian workers at its Wakefield facility voted to form a union because they believed if they did not, a co-worker would use voodoo against them.

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The allegation has set off outrage in the Haitian and labor communities, who say the company is using unfounded stereotypes and insulting its own workers.

Harborside Healthcare at Wakefield cq, a nursing and rehabilitation center, formally objected to the workers' recent vote to unionize, saying an employee, Marie Chery cq, threatened co-workers who refused to vote for the union with voodoo, possibly swaying the election.

The National Labor Relations Board is scheduled to conduct a hearing on the matter Monday.

''More than thirty (30) cq sic employees are Haitian immigrants and numerous employees believed Ms. Chery's actions to constitute a very powerful, serious, valid and credible threat against them," the company's labor counsel, Jeffrey L. Hirsch cq, wrote in an April 1 cq objection to the vote. The Wakefield center is one of 45 cq facilities Harborside Healthcare operates around the country. Fourteen of them are unionized, Hirsch said.

Yesterday, he defended the objection which was filed after the 41-22 cq vote last month to join Service Employees International Union, Local 2020 cq.

''You have to remember that those of us born and raised in this country might think that's ridiculous," he said. ''Diversity means understanding where people come from and what their values are and what their fears are."

The company's objection accused Chery, who served as the union's observer during part of the voting, claimed that through her ''voodoo powers" she would know how each employee voted.

Her presence ''served as a visual reminder of the intimidation and threats," the objection said.

The battle comes as Haitian religious leaders and advocates are aggressively seeking to improve working conditions in nursing homes. Advocates say Haitians make up about 80 percent of nursing home employees throughout greater Boston, and their workplaces have become a key battleground for union organizers.

The Harborside workers, union organizers, Haitian community leaders, and other nursing care employees protested on Beacon Street yesterday, accusing the company of using a cultural stereotype to try to block employees from unionizing.

''They lost the election 2 to 1 so they had to trump up charges," Celia Wcislo, president of Local 2020, said to the angry crowd of about 75 that circled outside 1 Beacon St., the site of a Harborside corporate office. Some protesters carried signs that said ''Voodoo doesn't win elections. Workers do."

Wcislo criticized Harborside officials, imagining them looking at their immigrant workforce and coming up with the allegation.

''Gee, a lot of them are Haitian. It must have been voodoo," she said, referring to the managers.   Continued...