Healthcare workers vote by margin of 92% in favor of a strike as Adventist executives refuse to bargain in good faith to improve working conditions and care for patients
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Healthcare workers at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo and Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton have voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike. They are demanding that their employer, Adventist Health, bargain in good faith with them over short-staffing, working conditions, and low wages. The vote, with a margin of 92%, comes as a last resort after frontline healthcare workers repeatedly tried to address their patient care concerns at the bargaining table.“We’re having a hard time providing the quality care our patients deserve as more staff leave. We don’t take the decision to strike lightly, but we’ve reached our breaking point and are urging Adventist executives to address understaffing and working conditions in their hospitals now,” said Jennifer Mendoza, a pathology assistant at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center. “We’re hoping that Adventist executives will bargain with us in good faith to reach an agreement, so we can provide the best care possible for our community.”
In July, frontline healthcare workers picketed outside Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center and Twin Cities Community Hospital, speaking out against understaffing, low wages, and their hospitals’ proposed increase in worker healthcare costs, which are making it difficult to attract and retain experienced staff. Caregivers say that Adventist’s push to increase healthcare costs will only worsen chronic understaffing, putting patients and workers at risk.
Approximately 400 employees represented by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West are in contract negotiations with Adventist Health, which purchased Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center and Twin Cities Community Hospital from Tenet Healthcare earlier this year. They work in various jobs, including certified nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, emergency room workers, lab assistants, and many other frontline staff.
— SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected healthcare workers. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.