Health Care Workers Protest ‘Dignity Health’ Amid Health Care Quality Concerns
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – About 100 union health care workers from Marian Regional Medical Center made sure their frustrations were heard.
In a protest just outside of the hospital today, employees part of the SEIU United Healthcare Workers West demanded a fair contract.
“We want Dignity to come to the table and negotiate with us and get this contract issue over with,” said Erin Erwin. He has been working at the hospital for about 7 years.
Like him many other employees have been working at the hospital for a long time. They say with their contracts now up, they’re asking the hospital’s parent company, Dignity Health to give them what they said they deserve.
“Fair wages, competitive retirement plans, keeping our medical the same,” says Erwin.
They stood outside protesting for about three hours holding signs reading “caregivers value respect” and “Dignity values cutting corners”
“Dignity Health please give good wages, don’t cut the wages, everything right there because we work so hard,” says Venier Alejandro. He has been working as a Certified Nursing Assistant for nearly 20 years.
We reached out to Dignity Health and they released the following statement:
The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) has notified Dignity Health of its decision to engage in an informational picket today at Marian Regional Medical Center.
We apologize to our patients, physicians and staff for any inconvenience this informational picket may cause. We believe the best place to resolve differences and achieve an agreement is at the bargaining table.
The health care workers participating in the informational picket are valued and respected members of our health care team. We will continue to negotiate in good faith in the hopes of reaching a fair and equitable agreement with our union.
Patient care is not disrupted by this informational picket. We remain dedicated to serving our patients with high-quality, excellent services and care.
The protest is part of a statewide effort being held in cities across the California.
