Workers vote unanimously to authorize strikes at six local Planned Parenthood locations

CENTRAL COAST REGION, Calif. – Healthcare workers at Planned Parenthood California Central Coast have voted unanimously to authorize a strike over alleged unfair labor practices and under-staffing claims.

While workers have not set a date for the strike action, a warning will be issued ten days in advance to allow those seeking services to plan their healthcare appointments around the strike explained the labor union that represents the regional health care provider.

According to Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), the union representing Planned Parenthood California Central Coast's employees, the strike actions will impact health care centers at six Planned Parenthood California Central Coast locations: San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Thousand Oaks, and Oxnard.

The authorization vote follows months of negotiations between the reproductive healthcare provider and employees including medical assistants, clinicians, and support staff detailed the SEIU-UHW in a press release Monday.

"We work here because we care deeply about our patients and our community. But there’s only so much we can do when we’re constantly understaffed and management refuses to bargain in good faith," said Mike Solemar, a physician at Planned Parenthood California Central Coast. "Patients are waiting longer, and sometimes not getting seen at all. We believe in our mission to provide quality reproductive care for anyone who walks through our doors. Enough is enough. We need management to stop the unfair labor practices and listen to the frontline healthcare workers."

Planned Parenthood California Central Coast provided the following statement when reached for comment about the strike authorization Monday:

Since the beginning of the collective bargaining process, Planned Parenthood California Central Coast (PPCCC) has negotiated with the union in good faith, in pursuit of our goal to focus on the needs of our patients and staff, while protecting the long-term sustainability of our mission. 

To date, we have participated in fourteen bargaining sessions with SEIU-UHW. Throughout those sessions, we have maintained a respectful and productive working relationship, which has allowed us to make great progress. In fact, we have reached tentative agreements on 15 items, with just a few outstanding items remaining that we have been actively working to reach an agreement on. 

It’s because of this continued progress and partnership that we were surprised to learn through social media that SEIU-UHW had decided to conduct a strike vote rather than allowing this productive process to continue. Since bargaining began, we have not received an Unfair Labor Practice charge, the union has not contacted PPCCC directly about this issue, and we have not received a formal, written 10-day strike notice, which is required before a health care strike can occur. 

We understand SEIU-UHW has an obligation to deliver for its members and that this can sometimes lead to divisive and retaliatory tactics. We also support the right of our employees to engage in a strike. But the reality is, discussions never stalled, and PPCCC has responded to all proposals with thoughtful, reasonable counter proposals that reflect our commitment to our staff and the good faith bargaining process. Our hope is that we can continue to work together to reach agreement on the outstanding contract provisions – as we have done over the past nine months. 

Jenna Tosh, Ph.D., President and CEO of Planned Parenthood California Central Coast