Workers called attention to the ongoing contract negotiations between the University and the Keck National Union of Healthcare Workers group, which have been unfolding for the past four months.
Workers at Keck Medicine of USC held an informational picket June 5 to bring attention to the ongoing contract negotiations between the University and the Keck National Union of Healthcare Workers group, which have been unfolding for the past four months.
The picket occurred at Keck Hospital of USC from 6 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. and from 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. A rally then took place from 11:45 a.m. until 12:45 p.m., according to a press release from the NUHW published June 4.
Pickets also took place throughout the day at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Keck’s health care center in Beverly Hills.
The union represents nearly 2,000 workers including licensed vocational nurses, nursing assistants, medical technicians and respiratory therapists who are employed at Keck hospitals, call centers and other clinics. Workers voted to unionize under the NUHW in 2010. Their last contract ran from May 1, 2021 and expired on April 30.
Among the sticking points for Keck workers are higher wages, better health care benefits, banning job subcontracting, and a plan to deal with facility understaffing.
“There is nothing common about the contract proposal USC has made to its dedicated health care workers,” said NUHW President Sophia Mendoza. “Despite posting a $531 million operating profit throughout its health care system last year, the university is seeking to impose wage freezes and make its caregivers pay more for their health care coverage. USC’s proposal would worsen already unsafe staffing levels in its hospitals putting patients at risk.”
At a May 20 bargaining meeting, where the union wrote in a statement that USC negotiators showed up three and a half hours late, USC submitted a wage proposal that has starting rates that are lower “than the current contract for 11 classifications.” Organizers also claimed in a May 20 press release that the proposal will “lower top rates for nearly all classifications,” “eliminate steps in the wage scale” and “that the wage scale be frozen and not increase for the entire life of the contract.”
When asked to comment on the union’s claim that USC negotiators showed up to the meeting late, Keck Medicine wrote in an email to the Daily Trojan that they “work diligently to prepare for [bargaining] sessions and maintain communication with NUHW representatives should we foresee any delays.”
“We respect the time of all session attendees and are committed to ongoing communication and negotiating in good faith to reach agreements that are fair, provide competitive pay and benefits, and support our caregivers,” the statement read.
David Zavala, a patient care technician who has worked at Keck since 2008, said he felt that current negotiations seemed to involve workers fighting for things that they have already gained in the past.
“There seems to be no commitment so far from USC to honor a free [Health Maintenance Organization] plan,” said Zavala, who is also a member of the union’s bargaining team. “In past contracts we’ve had it written, and it’s interesting there’s no commitment to have that in the contract and we’ve been told they’d rather just let us know during open enrollment.”
Workers are also upset over a proposed “silencing clause” that would prohibit them from speaking to the media.
“They also want to silence us from talking publicly about issues in the future,” said Zavala. “For us, the concern is that we wouldn’t be allowed to talk about patient safety issues or patient care issues.”
In a statement to the Daily Trojan on May 8, the union called on USC to focus on presenting proposals that would improve working conditions.
“Instead of offering proposals that would help address chronic understaffing at one of Los Angeles’ largest hospital systems, Keck–USC officials have proposed a provision that would severely limit the rights of caregivers to speak publicly about workplace issues that impact patients,” the statement read.
The union also claimed that the University is “attempting to limit the ability of union organizers to meet with members at USC medical facilities.”
Zavala said he thinks a strike could come after the picket once negotiations resume if progress is not made from the University.
“These are serious issues and I’m hoping that the picket can change the direction,” he said. “I’m hopeful of that, but I also wasn’t born yesterday. So, I think we’re going to strike but I’d love for USC to not take it that way.”
Keck Medicine of USC said that during the picket their locations would be fully staffed and that they “fully respect [their] caregivers’ right to participate.”
“We understand how important our contracts are to our caregivers and are committed to negotiating in good faith to reach agreements that are fair, provide competitive pay and benefits, and support our caregivers,” a spokesperson for Keck Medicine of USC wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan on June 3.
