Why Health Care Workers Are Picketing Wednesday At Sutter Psychiatric Hospital In Sacramento

About 150 health care workers will gather and protest outside the Sutter Psychiatric Center in Sacramento on Wednesday to protest wages and staffing levels at the hospital operated by Sutter Health.

In October 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, workers voted to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers, but had not yet signed a contract with their employer. Union members told the Sacramento Bee that the company has denied pay increases since the union formed and has understaffed its facilities for years.

“We are disappointed that the union has decided to box, especially as we have consistently negotiated in good faith and reached tentative agreements on a number of contractual elements,” Sutter leaders wrote in a statement to The Bee.

Wesley Moore Jr., an Elk Grove resident and patient care support specialist, said he believes the pandemic played a role in why he and other psychiatric hospital workers voted to unionize and continued to support collective bargaining, when Sutter management made cuts. about the pay increases that NUHW members receive from other workers at the facility.

"Covid has definitely... put everything on the boil. "It was a tinderbox," Moore said. "None of us received any compensation while we were directly exposed to COVID."

Moore said problems at work also affected his personal life.

"My wife was pregnant at the time and there were times when I couldn't come home or sleep in the garage because I didn't want to be with her knowing I was exposed to COVID," Moore continued. "

Even before the pandemic, workers now represented by the NUHW were frustrated about not having enough staff to ensure the safety of workers and patients, said Moore, whose job is to ensure young people at the facilities are safe during their stay. .

Frustration over salary increase generates complaints

Since the workers joined NUHW, Moore said, Sutter has not given him or his colleagues the performance-based raises or cost-of-living adjustments he normally pays each year.

Once employees vote to join a union, federal regulations require management to maintain the status quo and past practices until initial contract negotiations are completed, NUHW officials said in a statement to The Bee.

"In the past, Sutter gave his employees a raise each summer," the NUHW statement said. "The amount of the pay increase varies each year and for each individual and is based on each employee's annual performance review. In the summer of 2022, they gave raises to non-union workers but denied them to our members."

The union filed a complaint against the raises with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging unfair labor practices, and the board concluded that the complaint was substantiated, union officials said. At first, Sutter agreed to give employees full benefits, but so far they have only paid performance increases.

As a result, NUHW filed another appeal with the NLRB requesting the last two cost-of-living adjustments denied to members.

NUHW President: "Sutter Health is an anti-union employer"

“Sutter Health is an anti-union employer that seeks to punish workers who form a union in the hopes that other Sutter workers will not do the same,” said Sal Rosselli, president of NUHW. "By wasting so much time that should have been spent collectively improving the care provided at his psychiatric hospital, Sutter is causing real harm to his patients, his staff and his reputation."

Sutter officials said they remain focused on reaching a final contract and continuing to provide safe, compassionate care to patients.

"We greatly appreciate the quality of care and support our employees provide to patients," company officials said in their statement. "In exchange, we offer team members competitive salaries and benefits, as well as resources and opportunities to advance and further their careers."

Union members will be at 7700 Folsom Blvd from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to demonstrate, NUHW officials said, and several local politicians and political candidates plan to join them at the ranks, on horseback and in demonstrations. Expected guests include Sacramento City Council members Karina Talamantes, Katie Valenzuela and Mai Vang, as well as California Assembly candidates Paula Villescaz and Sean Frame.

The union noted that the Sutter Center for Psychiatry contracts with Sacramento County to provide care to adults and children with serious mental illnesses. NUHW officials said Medi-Cal beneficiaries account for 57% of hospitalizations.

NUHW members at Sutter Hospital include psychotherapists, social workers and licensed practical nurses. On Wednesday, the assembly will also vote on whether or not to approve the strike.

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