A number of our coworkers were here at Vibra Kentfield when we tried to form our union five years ago — and this is what these veterans are saying about management’s desperate pleas for “one more chance”:

“Vibra has made changes over the past five years — just not any positive ones. 

Three days of dedicated sick leave? GONE. A strong 401K match? GONE. Extra pay for working on Christmas day and night, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s? GONE. Call-ins for sick days went from three in 90 days to four days a year. What if we get sick five days in a year? What then?”

 

“I also work at Kaiser and Marin General, which both have unions— and we’re treated way better there.

Vibra doesn’t appreciate us for all the work we do. I haven’t even received a raise in two years. When we first tried to form our union five years ago, management discouraged us by using the same tactics they’re using right now. I’m not falling for it this time.”

 

“During my 14 years as an RN for Vibra, I’ve seen nurses come and go at an alarming rate.

One big reason for this high turnover that’s consistently reported is low pay and poor benefits. Vibra just does not offer fair wages, PTO, or 401K contributions. It’s way past due for us to make a change.”

 

“Five years ago, we gave Vibra a chance to change — like the chance they’re asking for now. Since then, we’ve just gotten a lot of empty promises.

No HOU differential, as promised. No onsite doctors for HOU patients, as promised. No Neuro differential, as promised. A reduction of annual raises from 3% to 2% — even after the patient census went back up. Why should we expect any different in the future?”

 

“If we had formed our union five years ago things would be much better for us today.

When I got injured at work I was put on modified duty. But management refused to accommodate me on my regular shift, so I ended up losing a week of pay. Without a union, there’s nothing I could do. Raises have gone down from 3% to 2%, and they are evaluated by merit. So even if we go above and beyond, we may only get a 2% raise. Our raises would be guaranteed under a union contract. And we’d also have the power to push for safer patient loads instead of the unsafe loads we have now.”

 

“I started at Kentfield almost five years ago as talks of unionizing were dying down. As a new employee here, I didn’t expect that management would break every promise they made.

They told RNs that if we completed a certification to move up the clinical ladder and become RN III, we would get a 10% raise. A coworker and I did that — but we didn’t get that raise, we only got half of it. It was only recently when we started unionizing that management ‘promised’ to give us the other 5%, but we haven’t actually seen the increase in our paychecks. I know that if we had been union this wouldn’t have happened — our raises would have been guaranteed in writing.”

 

“We’ve tried to allow Vibra to make changes for long enough.

Vibra is a corporation and their main goal is to make money. Unfortunately, their decisions consistently show us that their employees and their patients are secondary to that goal.

The last time we tried to unionize they promised us things would change. 

They didn’t — until we started trying to unionize again. Only then did they finally give in to some of the things we want. But why should we believe that this time they’re going to make permanent changes when they’ve already shown us they won’t?

We’ve done it the Vibra way for long enough. It’s time for a new approach. Join us in voting YES for a strong voice on the job!”

Matt Bogue, Jack Samonte, Jiusten Santos, Jimmy Nguyen, Russell Mijares, Matthew Harrell, Kevin Bukowski 
Respiratory Therapists, Vibra Kentfield