More Than 1,000 Health Care Employees Plan to Strike Today at Three San Jose Hospitals
More than 1,000 health care employees represented by Service Employees International Union Local 250 plan to strike today at three San Jose hospitals, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The employees approved the one-day strike after negotiations between the union and the three hospitals, owned by HCA Inc., "failed to produce agreements" on a number of issues. The hospital employees are seeking increased wages, improved staffing levels, health coverage for dependents and "better patient care standards." Certified nursing assistants, surgical technologists, respiratory therapists, lab assistants, dietary workers and others plan to picket outside of Good Samaritan Hospital, San Jose Medical Center and Regional Medical Center of San Jose for 24 hours, beginning at 6 a.m. today. The three hospitals will remain open and plan to use additional staff members to "fill the gap left by the striking employees," the Mercury News reports. Leslie Kelsay, a spokesperson for the three hospitals, said that patients "should not see any difference in the quality of care they receive" (Lyons, San Jose Mercury News, 5/15).
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