Dive Brief:
- About 400 healthcare workers at Cedars-Sinai Marina Del Rey Hospital in Southern California are waging a five-day strike starting Monday, according to a release from Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers West, which represents them.
- Those walking off the job include nursing assistants, surgical technicians, pharmacists, dietitians, lab assistants, environmental service workers and other front-line staff.
- They want their concerns over staffing, safety and wages addressed in new contracts.
Dive Insight:
Healthcare workers across the country have waged strikes throughout the year to address issues like staffing and wages in employment contracts following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Cedars-Sinai, low pay, high turnover and the rising cost of living are key concerns among striking staff that they say threaten their ability to provide adequate care, according to the union release.
In May, healthcare workers at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles also waged a five-day strike. Shortly after, they reached an agreement to increase the minimum wage to $21 per hour by 2024 in addition to average raises of more than 17%.
“They’re raising pay at Target and Jack in the Box, but they aren’t raising pay at Marina del Rey Hospital,” Gregorio Oropeza, an admitting representative at the facility, said in the release.
“The difference is that instead of having to wait longer in a cashier aisle or a drive-thru line, people’s lives can literally be put at risk when we are short-staffed,” he said.
The workers and system have been in negotiations since August.
The hospital will remain open and operational during the strike, according to an email statement from Cedars-Sinai.