Rosemary Vidal always speaks out when she witnesses an injustice.
“I like to fight for equality,” said the intake admissions lead, who has worked at Kindred Hospital Brea for 15 years.
It motivated her to join the union organizing effort at the Orange County facility in 2014, just one year after workers at Kindred Hospital Westminster organized with NUHW. It also prompted her to become a steward soon after.
As a steward, Vidal doesn’t hesitate to call out unfair situations, but she’s also willing to mediate and facilitate dialogue between management and her colleagues.
“There’s nothing more satisfying than standing for your coworkers and winning together, but it’s also satisfying to be able to get management to the table and reach agreements that benefit everyone,” Vidal said. “That’s the power we have as union workers.”
Upcoming negotiations
Those bargaining skills will soon be tested when workers at Kindred Hospital Brea and Westminster begin negotiating their next union contracts.
Caregivers from both units will unite to bargain together, as they did in 2022, when more than 300 workers at both hospitals won average salary increases of 23 percent along with many other benefit improvements.
Vidal wants all workers to attend at least two bargaining sessions, not only to learn about the process and what’s being proposed but also to demonstrate support for the bargaining team and show strength in unity before management.
“The more numbers we have in bargaining, the more power we have to win a good contract,” Vidal said of that strategy.
A good contract would require higher salaries to compensate for rising prices, more paid time off accruals, and better health and retirement benefits, including better benefits for part-time workers working full-time hours. Ensuring safe staffing levels and manageable workloads is also crucial, as the hospital experiences higher worker turnover rates as people leave for higher-paying hospitals.
Vidal said that improving benefits and pay will help not only the caregivers but also the hospital, and most importantly, the patients.
“Our patients count on us to help them in their recoveries,” Vidal said. “If we can make our hospital more attractive to workers, we’ll have less turnover, higher staffing levels and better care for our patients.”
