FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

December 16, 2021

ANTIOCH, Calif. –  More than 350 healthcare workers won their effort to improve patient care at Sutter Delta Medical Center by ratifying a contract agreement that will address safe staffing levels, a top issue for the frontline caregivers who earlier this year went on strike twice due to difficult working conditions.

“This agreement was possible because we as a union stood together to improve patient care and advocated for safe staffing levels. We are relieved to know that dozens of positions have now been posted,” said Stefanye Sartain, a respiratory therapist at Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch. “We are proud to have negotiated a four-year agreement that recognizes the skill and dedication we bring to our work and gives us the peace of mind to focus on safely caring for our patients.”

Details of the agreement include:

• Posting all 37 unposted staff positions, many of which have already been filled
• Emphasizing the need to attract and retain quality caregivers by providing annual raises of 3 or 4 percent in each of the four years, with bonuses to recognize the dedication of long-term employees
• A 4-million-dollar investment in Futuro Health, a non-profit dedicated to training thousands of healthcare workers to address the workforce shortage

SEIU-UHW members at Sutter Delta Medical Center include frontline workers such as emergency room technicians, respiratory therapists, phlebotomists, transporters, and licensed vocational nurses.

CONTACT: Renée Saldaña, [email protected]

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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.