Workers for Sutter Health are gearing up for a strike, with union officials citing “bad faith bargaining” by the nonprofit health care provider amid what they claim are widespread staffing shortages.
“We don’t want to go on strike, but we feel like we have to,” Nikki Moorer, of Sutter Solano, said in a statement Friday. “We need management to stop bargaining in bad faith and listen to us to fix working conditions and short staffing. Procedures get canceled, and patients are sent home because there aren’t enough staff to properly stock the equipment we need. That’s not care. That’s a crisis.”
SEIU union workers at Oakland, Santa Rosa, Roseville, Berkeley, Lakeport, Vallejo, Antioch, Castro Valley, and San Francisco Sutter Health facilities voted to authorize a strike, though a date has not yet been set. The union expressed frustration with Sutter Health administration over high employee turnover, staffing shortages and stressful working conditions.
SEIU represents nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, licensed vocational nurses, environmental services, cooks, technicians, and more at Sutter Health.
The union also criticized CEO Warner Thomas, who they said earned $11 million in 2023 “while refusing to invest in staffing and patient care.”
The health care provider pushed back against some of the union’s claims.
“Sutter Health has been bargaining in good faith with SEIU–UHW since July and we remain committed to reaching a fair and sustainable agreement,” Sutter Health spokeswoman Lindsey Goodwin said in a statement Saturday. “We look forward to being at the table next week to continue working toward a resolution that’s best for our employees, our patients and the communities we serve.”
Union officials said they plan to meet with Sutter Health in a bargaining session on either Oct. 9 or 10, though it is unclear whether that meeting will stave off a potential strike action.
Sutter Health workers previously picketed in August and September at sites throughout Northern California, including at the Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento.
Plans for Sutter Health to build a new $1 billion Emeryville campus were met with public outcry from the union, which claims the new facility will affect workers at the Alta Bates Ashby campuses in Oakland and Berkeley, “leading to a loss of services in the communities that need them most.”
In April 2022, thousands of Sutter Health workers walked off the job for a day during ongoing contract negotiations, which was followed by another five-day strike in October 2022 by the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United. Sutter Health, in an attempt to keep health care functions running, hired contract workers to fill in.
That same year, millions of plaintiffs filed a anti-trust class action lawsuit seeking over $1 billion in damages that alleged Sutter Health overcharged customers and companies for health care bills and discouraged clients from using other lower-cost services. The health care giant agreed earlier this year to settle the case for $228.5 million.
