UCSF Medical Center workers strike
Victoria Colliver
(05-22) 10:45 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Thousands of workers at UCSF Medical Center and four other UC hospitals walked off their jobs early Tuesday at the start of a two-day strike over retirement plans, wages and staffing levels.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which is leading the strike, represents some 13,000 respiratory therapists, nursing aides, radiology technicians, certified nursing assistants, MRI technologists and other positions at the UC medical centers.
A day earlier, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge denied the UC system’s request for an injunction against a strike, but ruled that 453 workers remain on the job so public safety isn’t compromised.
Randall Johnson, an MRI technologist at UCSF, said UC administrators brought on the strike by taking actions to reduce staffing to levels that put patients at risk.
“We were pushed into doing this,” said Johnson, who also serves on the union’s bargaining team and executive board.
UC officials estimated that the strike will cost the system $20 million, much of it to pay for replacement workers during the walkout.
“The real cost is not the dollars and cents; it’s the impact this strike will have on the safety of our patients,” said Dr. John Stobo, the UC system’s senior vice president for health sciences and services.
Dr. Josh Adler, UCSF’s chief medical officer, said the center prepared for the strike by canceling nonemergency procedures, surgeries and appointments, including half of all scheduled radiation therapy sessions. Additionally, the medical center has not accepted transfer cases from other hospitals since last week, he said.
The strike is scheduled to end at 4 a.m. Thursday. The striking employees are supported in sympathy by members of the University Professional and Technical Employees union.
Meanwhile at several East Bay Sutter Health hospitals, registered nurses represented by the California Nurses Association have been on a weeklong strike since Friday.
The hospitals targeted by the strike include Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland and Berkeley, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley and Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch.
The union and Sutter officials have managed to resolve contracts at other hospitals that have been affected by walkouts over the past 20 months. The contract dispute centers on wages, benefits and patient care issues.
The nurses union on Monday publicized health and safety violations issued this month against Alta Bates Summit by the State of California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The citations, involving the hospital’s failure to properly isolate patients with infectious diseases, could bring fines of more than $140,000.
Alta Bates Summit officials described the citations, stemming from an assessment in November, as violations in record keeping, training and equipment inspection.
“We welcome these types of regulatory reviews by Cal/OSHA and other regulators and take them very seriously,” the hospital said in a statement. “However, based on the facts, we felt compelled to appeal these findings.”
[Source]: SF Gate
