Political power makes a real difference in being able to grow, win strong contracts, and protect healthcare workers on the job, not only through passing better laws, but by building relationships with elected leaders so that they have our backs when our employers don’t.
Local and state-level elected officials at multiple locations supported dialysis workers at DaVita, Fresenius, Satellite, and US Renal clinics in Unfair Labor Practice strikes across California. Additionally, eight US Congress members, including Robert Garcia, Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff, and Maxine Waters, signed a joint letter to the dialysis corporation CEOs in support of our right to organize.
Dignity Security Guard Campaign – 2022-2024
We received the support of 65 elected lawmakers across the state, who stood in solidarity with frontline workers and supported our right to unionize with SEIU-UHW.
Kaiser Permanente Strike – 2023
In the largest healthcare workers’ strike in U.S. history, SEIU-UHW members had the support of Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su, who attended bargaining sessions twice and was instrumental in ending our strike and securing our four-year contract. XX more elected officials supported us during the campaign, writing letters to Kaiser management, meeting with UHW members, and joining workers on the strike line.
St. Francis Medical Center – 2022
UHW sought the support of local Congresswoman Nanette Barragan to bring attention to Prime’s concerning practice of pressuring COVID-positive workers to return while contagious. Due to the Congressmember’s willingness to speak out, Prime immediately agreed to all the demands for safer working conditions.
Doctors Hospital of Riverside 2021-2022
After Doctors Hospital of Riverside management refused to negotiate in good faith, State Senator William Roth (a former board member of DHOR) called management about unsanitary working conditions and low staffing levels. With local and state elected lawmakers ready to stand with SEIU-UHW members on the picket line, mounting political pressure, and the threat of a work stoppage, management settled less than 24 hours before the scheduled start of the strike.
Solidarity with Engineers Local 39 – Winter 2021
An injury to one is an injury to all. We stand in solidarity – 40,000-strong across SEIU-UHW, OPEIU Local 29, and IFPTE Local 20 with the Local 39 Engineers to protest Kaiser’s unfair labor practices and help the engineers win a fair contract. Here are a few photos from Kaiser facilities across Northern California.
In the fall of 2021, IUOE Local 39 members who maintain the complicated hospitals and medical buildings operated by Kaiser Permanente in Northern California organized an open-ended strike after their contract expired and negotiations with management stalled. In November 2021, UHW and the rest of the CKPU conducted the largest sympathy strike in the United States since 1894, and UHW led the organizing of an unprecedented political response to support the strike, with 128 elected officials and community allies turning out at dozens of hospital picket lines during the one-day strike.
Lifelong Medical Centers – 2021
LifeLong management worked together with SEIU-UHW on an important political campaign to secure vital funding for the construction and operation of a new clinic in an underserved community in the East Bay. As a result, management agreed to remain neutral in organizing efforts so that frontline workers could hold a prompt Union election without a divisive campaign.
Vibra Healthcare – 2021
Elected lawmakers met directly with our UHW bargaining team members, wrote letters to the CEO, and even attended actions at the facility.
Anaheim Global/Chapman Medical – 2021
We held conversations with our local elected allies to sound the alarm about KPC’s plan to close Emergency Departments at Anaheim Global and Chapman Medical and replace them with Urgent Care. As a result, lawmakers were able to take action, reach out to KPC leadership, and speak out to the press. This pressure forced KPC to scrap their plans and keep our Emergency Departments open for our community.
John Muir Behavioral Health – 2021
Federal, State, County, and City elected officials held conversations with John Muir management in early 2021, as 111 workers fighting to unionize faced a bitter and costly anti-union campaign that attempted to coerce frontline workers against voting to join SEIU-UHW. After workers voted overwhelmingly to unionize, lawmakers remained engaged in the campaign throughout contract negotiations, helping us to secure a strong, first union contract.
El Camino Hospital – 2021
Political allies such as Assemblymember Evan Low, Senator Dave Cortese, and other local officials supported frontline workers in multiple picket demonstrations to highlight workplace abuses and lack of meaningful progress in bargaining. With continued political support, Hospital management agreed to a fair contract renewal.
Watsonville Community Hospital – 2021
With the help of our political allies, such as Senator John Laird and Assemblymember Mark Stone, as well as local County and City officials, we were able to organize support to keep Watsonville’s doors open while possible solutions could be explored. Our elected allies in Sacramento have since pushed for the creation of a new hospital district to incorporate the Watsonville community, and they have helped broker a new management deal to keep the hospital serving our patients.
Sutter Health, Northern California 2021
In 2021, dozens of elected officials wrote letters and called top Sutter executives during contentious and sluggish contract negotiations with SEIU-UHW bargaining team members. As a result, frontline workers at Sutter made historic contract gains, including the first multi-hospital, union contract ever negotiated with Sutter.
Two Congressmembers were among the many elected officials and allies who joined Sutter Delta workers on the picket line, offering vital support during two separate one-week strikes in the fall of 2021.
Kaiser Permanente – Patient Care Technicians 2021
On May 18, 2021 healthcare workers at Kaiser Oakland held a press conference to protest Kaiser Permanente’s decision to layoff 231 workers including 33 patient care techs at Kaiser Oakland.
In early 2021, among the hundreds of positions KP proposed to eliminate in NorCal was 33 Patient Care Technician positions at Kaiser Oakland Medical Center, direct caregivers who had cared for COVID-infected patients for a year or more. UHW’s strong political campaigns succeeded in saving these jobs, with dozens of elected officials and community allies taking action in support.
Stanford Medical Center – 2020
On May 8, 2020 SEIU-UHW members at Stanford Health Care stood united in a social distance action to demand Stanford management stop pushing unnecessary pay cuts to frontline caregivers who have tirelessly treated COVID-19 patients, putting their own health at risk.
We secured letters of support from Congressional, State, and Local elected lawmakers calling on the CEO of Stanford Medical Center to negotiate a fair contract for frontline healthcare workers. Numerous elected officials also supported Stanford workers publicly through their social media accounts.
HCA – 2020
Workers at RCH picket due to lack of PPE
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, HCA’s Regional Medical Center and Good Samaritan in San Jose waged an attack on frontline healthcare workers by trying to cut retirement benefits. SEIU-UHW members held meetings with elected officials across the region and secured a letter of support from half the San Jose City Council calling out the two facilities for their attacks on frontline workers. UHW members also secured the support of Assemblymember Ash Kalra and Santa Clara Supervisors Dave Cortese and Cindy Chavez.
Telecare Psychiatric Inpatient Hospitals – 2020
Three County Supervisors wrote letters to the Telecare CEO calling on leadership to deal fairly with frontline workers as they pushed for their union election. After voting to join SEIU-UHW, union members maintained their ongoing support during bargaining and they urged Telecare management to settle a fair agreement promptly when negotiations were moving slowly. UHW members won historic pay and job quality improvements in their first union contract as a result..
St. Francis Medical Center – 2020
At the height of the pandemic, Prime laid off frontline healthcare workers in apparent retaliation against active union members who were outspoken about poor conditions in their facilties. SEIU-UHW engaged our political allies to support frontline healthcare workers, which led Prime management to reconsider their union-busting practices and ultimately reinstated over 100 healthcare workers.
Kaiser Permanente – Gardeners 2019
Kaiser Gardeners set up community garden and overnight vigil in front of Kaiser Oakland headquarters to protest the outsourcing of their jobs.
In early 2019, KP management announced their plans to terminate the positions of 63 gardeners represented by UHW who create pleasant, healing conditions for patients and workers at hospitals and clinics throughout Northern California. Dozens of elected officials and community allies joined in support by coming to rallies, candlelight vigils and overnight protests, writing letters and making phone calls to KP decisionmakers, and more, saving these jobs.
Kaiser Permanente Contract Negotiations – 2019
During this year we were able to secure letters from 93 California state legislators who called on Kaiser to cease their attempts to create a two-tiered wage system, discriminatory regional wage scales, an end to employee pensions, and an end to free health insurance for Kaiser workers. In addition, we were able to pass and sign SB 343 into law which required Kaiser to publish financial and insurance data more transparently and turn out a plethora of elected officials to statewide labor rallies calling on Kaiser to bargain a fair contract and in good faith. In the end we got a great contract with no takeaways and $130 million to establish Futuro Health.
