Innercare Unfair Labor Practice Charge Filings

Innercare’s Unlawful Anti-Union Activity Against Employees Voting YES to Join SEIU-UHW

More than 30 Unfair Labor Practice charges were filed against Innercare in July of 2024, including 11 for wrongful termination of employees, and are currently in review with the National Labor Relations Board.

Surveillance Activities

Innercare leadership has hired security guards to search workers and their belongings as they enter clinic locations.
Innercare leadership has engaged in unlawful surveillance and polling of employees suspected of supporting the union, following employees outside of work hours, and questioning them as they go to the restroom, further infringing on their privacy and rights.
Managers are filming workers, and supervisors have been instructed to monitor and report any pro-union activities, creating a climate of fear and mistrust among employees.

Anti-union consulting

Within several days of Innercare workers filing for their union election in June of 2024, Innercare contracted Reliant Labor Consultants. A daily average of two to four consultants have been reported at Innercare worksites holding captive audience meetings with HR and department managers twice a week, rotating throughout clinics in both Coachella and Imperial Valley.

If the terms and conditions are similar to previous Reliant Labor Consultants contracts, it is believed that Innercare is spending $400 per consultant per hour with no caps, plus travel expenses and reimbursed expenses, with a six-hour minimum fee for any day engaged in onsite work or remote educational services if deemed necessary. Those service rates amount to a minimum of $2,400 per day per consultant.

Threats and Intimidation Tactics

Innercare management has sent emails to workers engaging in protected concerted activity, coercing them and saying the union tells lies. They call protected concerted activity a “campaign ploy,” express their personal views about the union, and suggest that workers support the union as an excuse to cover up misconduct.
Three Innercare workers have claimed they’re on PTO but have been spotted clocked in and performing anti-union electioneering. These same workers have filed complaints against pro-union leaders for harassment.
Innercare employees are being called into captive-audience, closed-door meetings and warned about the negative consequences of unionizing.
Innercare has created a climate of fear, making their employees feel they have no choice but to sign management’s anti-union petition or face disciplinary action.

Bribes and Promises

Select employees — specifically anti-union workers — have been provided special treatment and perks such as travel to sway their vote and undermine the union’s efforts.
Drivers in Innercare’s anti-union committee are making $24/hr while non-anti-union committee drivers are paid $19/hr.
Management has provided benefits to workers during the critical period of unionization by purchasing new refrigerators and microwaves for facility break rooms.

Illegal Actions and Wrongful Termination of Employees

At Innercare, a disturbing pattern of retaliation has emerged against workers who supported union efforts. Several long-serving employees were terminated shortly after expressing pro-union views or participating in organizing activity. In some cases, workers lost access to critical medical care, while others were fired after attending union-related events or for wearing pro-union gear. Even family members of union supporters were targeted, highlighting management’s aggressive efforts to silence organizing. These terminations, often framed with flimsy justifications like taking leftover food or routine file access, point to a broader strategy of intimidation.

The climate of fear extended beyond those directly leading the organizing. Workers were terminated despite lacking proper training, being praised for their performance, or right before starting approved medical leave. Newer employees were dismissed without explanation after appearing in union-related materials. Others were interrogated about their union views or penalized for prior infractions suddenly resurfaced. Across the board, Innercare’s actions reveal a coordinated effort to suppress union activity by punishing advocates, disrupting lives, and sending a clear message to the rest of the workforce: speak up, and you’re next.

Other Supporters Terminated

At Innercare, even professional and medical staff who supported union efforts faced retaliation or were pushed out under questionable circumstances. A social worker who helped lead organizing efforts in a unit excluded from the union election was terminated just one day after submitting a 30-day notice, despite her intention to ensure a smooth transition. A primary care physician who had previously been part of a union openly supported her staff’s right to organize but was told by management that she shouldn’t be involved—then terminated shortly after the union vote, despite a regional shortage of doctors. Meanwhile, at Innercare’s Brawley clinic, nearly all providers left due to frustration with management’s bullying tactics. The result has been ongoing staffing shortages and patient care disruptions, even as Innercare now seeks millions in grant funding to recruit the very types of providers it failed to support and retain.

NLRB Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo dba Innercare

NLRB Charge Region 21 re Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo re (Innercare Appliance)

NLRB Charge Region 21 re Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo re (Coachella)

NLRB Charge Region 21 re Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo re (Anit U Petition)

NLRB Charge Region 21 Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo re (Innercare Security Guards)

NLRB Innercare Captive Audience re Surveillance and Interrogation WIC

NLRB Innercare Captive Audience re Surveillance and Interrogation NON Professional Units

NLRB Ltr Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo Inc dba Innercare (Kristopher Garcia)

NLRB Ltr Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo Inc dba Innercare (Jaime Padilla)

NLRB Charge Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo (Montoya Targeting)

NLRB Charge Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo (Gonzalez Discrimination)

NLRB Charge Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo (Innercare Picket Threatened Discipline)