Strikes scheduled for this week at Planned Parenthood clinics across Central Coast canceled after tentative agreement reached
CENTRAL COAST REGION, Calif. – On Monday, the union representing healthcare workers at six Planned Parenthood clinics announced that a tentative agreement has been reached and the strikes planned for June 10 and 11 have been canceled.
According to the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) -the union representing healthcare professionals at the clinics- the tentative agreement supports clinical staff and positions the organization to face upcoming challenges.
Both the regional reproductive healthcare provider and the labor group are hopeful that represented employees will vote to ratify a new contract in the next few weeks shared the SEIU-UHW in a press release Monday.
"Workers at Planned Parenthood of the California Central Coast settled a three-year contract with management that includes wage increases, improvements to healthcare benefits, job security, and parental leave, and fully addresses the unfair labor practice charges that we had previously filed," shared SEIU-UHW spokesperson Tom Parker Monday. "The agreement still needs to be ratified by workers before it goes into effect, but while the ratification process is completed, the strikes have been called off. Patients of PPCCC should expect no disruption in care provided at the clinics. Once this contract is in place, our hope is that good healthcare workers will stay on at PPCCC so they can continue to provide quality care to their patients."
In early May, healthcare workers at all six Planned Parenthood California Central Coast clinics voted unanimously to authorize a strike over claims of understaffing and unfair labor practices after nine months of negotiations.
The now-canceled strike authorization would have been at Planned Parenthood clinics in Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and San Luis Obispo.
Your News Channel reached out to Planned Parenthood California Central Coast and their joint response with SEIU-UHW has been shared below:
SEIU-UHW and PPCCC have reached a tentative agreement that both supports the clinical staff of the organization as well as positions the organization to face the challenges ahead. As we’ve moved through the bargaining process, both sides have been invested in supporting the staff and treating them with dignity and respect. This tentative agreement builds on PPCCC’s culture of care and compassion and will enable the organization to continue to deliver excellent, high-quality care for some of California’s most vulnerable patients. SEIU-UHW and PPCCC are hopeful the represented employees will vote to ratify the contract in the coming weeks.
