Whether she’s trail running, mountain biking, or hiking, Ashley Christensen is constantly on the move.
The same goes for her work as a physical therapist for Visiting Nurses Association of Santa Cruz, where she drives door-to-door helping patients rehabilitate at home.
“With home health, you’re seeing the whole person,” Christensen said. “I like working with geriatric patients, which requires quite a bit of patience, but I find that it fits my personality well.”
While Christensen loves solo athletic pursuits on her time off, working in tandem with other professionals and being part of a union makes her work more meaningful.
“You need collective power to hold the employer accountable,” she said.
Over the past year, Christensen and her coworkers formed a strong team that won a big contract victory in June, increasing salaries and preserving health benefits.
It took months of arduous negotiations and their first ever informational picket, but their 18-month agreement will boost salaries more than 10 percent and maintain a health plan that requires the employer to pay all insurance premiums.
“I know many of our members, including myself, are excited to see the new pay scale go into effect,” she said. “It’s going to offset the increase in cost of living, which I know many of us have struggled to adjust to.”
Christensen knows that she and her approximately two dozen colleagues will be back at the bargaining table soon, but so will nearly 1,000 other NUHW members at Sutter — all of whom will be committed to winning their best ever contracts, while once again preventing Sutter from making them pay more for their healthcare.
“We’re really excited the other branches got their contract,” she said. “We know it’s going to be the biggest fight, but having bigger numbers at the bargaining table is going to have a big effect.”
