When dietary and housekeeping workers at The Sequoias—Portola Valley began negotiating their new union contract earlier this year, they had very clear priorities: higher salaries to keep up with the rising cost of living, more recognized days off, and job protections.
Just a few months later, the employees of the Bay Area retirement community in San Mateo County are celebrating a new contract they worked hard to achieve.
“We got pretty much everything we wanted,” said Jose Soto, a lead server, who has worked at the facility for two years. “I think what made the difference was that we were all together on this and had the same goals in mind,” he added.
The agreement includes:
- A minimum 13 percent wage increase through the life of the agreement.
- New “Just Cause” standards for discipline and discharges rather than various company rules previously used as basis for disciplinary action.
- A ban on subcontracting except for emergency needs in Maintenance and Transportation that would last for no more than 90 days.
- An incremental increase in vacation days, culminating with five additional vacation days by 2028.
- Christmas Eve as an additional holiday.
Soto said the key to this strong three-year contract was increased participation by the workers, particularly those in the housekeeping department.
“This year, the meetings were packed,” he said in comparison to the previous contract bargaining. “This sent a message to the company that we’re ‘union strong,’ that we’re together and we’re ready to fight to get what we deserve, and we did.”
Newly organized workers at MarinHealth get a big wage hike
Six outpatient MRI techs who recently joined NUHW have been fully accreted into the existing Outpatient Clinic contract, resulting in big wage increases.
The workers from the MarinHealth Novato and Larkspur clinics who had been receiving substantially less pay, poorer benefits, and fewer workplace protections than their unionized counterparts have received an immediate wage increase of $10.55 per hour. They’ve also secured 7.75 percent wage increases in the next two years, and tenure step increases of 2 to 3 percent every 1 to 4 years.
“This victory means so much to my coworkers and me,” said Kimberly Broas, an MRI tech at the Novato clinic. “We stood firm in our decision to fight for better wages, job security, and overall protection. After months of negotiations with the hospital, we have finally reached an agreement that reflects our worth.”
