Majority of workers vote to stick with their union, despite management’s costly and repeated attempts to bust their union
Majority of workers vote to stick with their union, despite management’s costly and repeated attempts to bust their union
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 6, 2024
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EL CAJON, Calif. —Dialysis workers at Fresenius Kidney Care East County have voted to stand together for improved patient care, working conditions, and wages by fighting off a decertification attempt and voting to stay united in a union with SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW). The vote applies to a variety of job classes, including registered nurses, patient care technicians, certified clinical hemodialysis technicians, administrative assistants, and unit secretaries.
“We won! Again! When is management going to learn that we won’t be fooled by their lies?” said Richard Guerrero, a patient care technician III at Fresenius Kidney Care East County. “Fresenius needs to come to the table and talk about how they’ll invest in improving our clinic and our jobs, instead of wasting money on union-busters.”
Management at Fresenius Kidney Care East County spent more than $650,000 on anti-union activities to try to stop healthcare workers from unionizing last year, and the corporation spent additional money on union-busters for the failed decertification attempt.
For years, healthcare workers throughout Fresenius Kidney Care have struggled with staffing shortages, safety concerns, and wages far below market for this region — even though these caregivers risked their lives to serve the community throughout the pandemic.
More dialysis clinic workers are filing to hold their own union elections. These workers are amongst a wave of San Diego-area healthcare workers voting to unite in SEIU-UHW. Earlier this month, more than 1,100 workers at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center voted to form a union with SEIU-UHW, joining 1,600 workers at Sharp Grossmont Hospital and Sharp HospiceCare, 550 Planned Parenthood workers and other groups of dialysis workers in the region.
In 2021, Fresenius made $1.3 billion in profits and paid its CEO nearly $6 million in compensation.
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SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected healthcare workers.