Health Care Workers at Watts Health Foundation Clinics Launch Three-Day Strike
About 200 health care workers at five Watts Health Foundation clinics began a three-day strike on Wednesday to protest a proposed contract that would reduce their benefits, the Los Angeles Times reports. Nurses, clinical assistants and clerical workers from clinics in Lynwood, Huntington Park, Compton, Watts and Inglewood are participating in the strike. The workers, represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 399, oppose the proposed benefit reductions, including the introduction of copayments for health services, in the new contract. State officials say the cuts are "necessary to keep the troubled foundation alive." The HMO, which serves 96,000 people in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, was seized by state regulators last year due to its poor financial mismanagement and nearly $60 million debt (Luna, Los Angeles Times, 5/30).
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