Sutter Roseville Service Workers File Unfair Labor Practice Complaint
About 400 service and technical workers locked out of Sutter Roseville Medical Center after a one-day strike on Monday filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the facility, the Sacramento Bee reports. The workers, represented by Service Employees International Union Local 250, filed the complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the hospital violated labor laws by refusing to allow them return to work after they exercised their "right to engage in concerted activities" (Campos, Sacramento Bee, 11/19). The workers held the one-day strike on Thursday after union representatives and hospital officials failed to reach agreement on a new contract; the workers' contract expired earlier this month. Union representatives and hospital officials have disagreed over salary increases and health benefits. The hospital hired temporary workers to cover the vacancies left by the workers who participated in the strike and said that they could not return to work until yesterday, when the contract with the temporary workers ended (California Healthline, 11/15). Sutter Roseville spokesperson Nancy Turner said that the lockout did not violate labor laws and that "employees who did not work for five days are not entitled to any money," the Bee reports. She added, "We don't plan on paying them. The union has stated that it has $1 million in its strike fund. If the union didn't want to use that money for this situation, then what is it going to use it for?" Union representatives and hospital officials plan to resume negotiations on a new contract on Nov. 26 (Sacramento Bee, 11/19).
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