“A Real Grinch”: NUHW Caregivers Fight Mass Layoffs at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital

NewsDecember 17, 2010

Photo by Conner Jay, The Californian

From The Californian: 

In candlelight, Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital employees protest layoffs

By Kimber Solana

Maria Rodriguez held a candle close to her as she stood during a chilly night outside Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital.

By year’s end, the 10-year hospital clerk, may be one of about 100 employees who will be out of work because of a round of layoffs – a move administrators say is needed to balance the books.

“I’m concerned, very concerned,” she said. “We still don’t know who’s losing their jobs.”

Rodriguez, a National Union of Healthcare Workers member, was among about 200 employees and their supporters who staged a protest – in the form of a candlelight vigil – Thursday night.

The crowd loudly cheered cars, passing them along Romie Lane, honked their horns.

“We just hope to get [administration’s] attention,” she said. “They need to know that this is wrong”

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