Wrongful firings. Verbal abuse. Favoritism. Contract violations.
Few things frustrate Cartina Valenzuela more than seeing her co-workers face delays in getting urgent problems like these resolved.
“Employers have been taking advantage of the grievance and arbitration process to drag things out,” said Cartina, a SEIU-UHW executive board member and phlebotomist at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton. “No one should have to wait years to see if they get their job back.”
Cartina joined the Representational Excellence committee to help improve representation for SEIU-UHW members. For the past five months, the committee has been working on a plan to provide stewards with expanded training, more decision-making power, and online tools so they can help members get quicker and better resolution of their problems at work.
“I’m really excited that we finally have a plan to give stewards the support they need to best represent their co-workers,” said Cartina.
During the next several weeks, Cartina and other members of the Representational Excellence committee will be consulting their plan with SEIU-UHW members across the state.