Contract bargaining is not going well for the 1,000 NUHW members at Salinas Valley Health Medical Center. So this month, a group of workers brought their concerns to the publicly elected board that runs the district hospital.
“Some of the proposals are outrageous,” Patricia Torres, a nutritional services aide, told the board members.
Salinas Valley Health Medical Center is in a strong financial position, having recorded a $103.5 million profit last year. In 2024, the hospital’s CEO, Dr. Allen Radner, took home $1.1 million, but the hospital is claiming there’s no money for good raises.
Several months into contract negotiations, management is offering annual raises of only 2 percent, while seeking to quadruple what NUHW members pay for their health care. Management has also been disrespectful and condescending in negotiations, workers said, responding scornfully when they proposed increasing a differential that is lower than what other workers at the hospital receive and has remained the same for 40 years.
Torres told board members that her colleagues are coming to the bargaining committee expressing their readiness to strike if management doesn’t improve its proposals. “We’re the ones holding them back, saying ‘no,’ we have enough time to continue with proposals. But (workers are) ready.”
The nearly 20 members at the board meeting called on board members to get involved in bargaining to help get a deal done.
“If you want to really know what’s going on, get engaged… because the concern is real,” Torres said to the board members. “And, I’m telling you, our membership is ready for a strike. We just don’t want to be forced to have to do it. We really don’t.”
