Elk Grove Unified mental health clinicians join NUHW
The National Union of Healthcare Workers continued its drive to organize mental health clinicians Wednesday with a victory at the Elk Grove Unified School District.
A total of 39 mental health therapists and behavior support specialists are now NUHW members after signing union cards.
“I’m proud of my coworkers for working together to form a union with NUHW,” said Susannah Fox, a behavior support specialist. “We stood together to be recognized as a union and proved that we’re strong when we’re united.”
Fox added: “I’m excited to begin bargaining a fair contract so that we can improve the quality of care we provide our students and protect our jobs and benefits.”
This marks NUHW’s fourth mental health organizing victory over the past year. The union, which represents over 3,000 mental health clinicians at Kaiser Permanente, recently won elections to represent clinicians at UCSF Children’s Hospital Oakland and Janus of Santa Cruz, a drug treatment center. And last week, the union successfully organized over 100 psychologists, behavioral health counselors, clinical supervisors and employment consultants at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc., a mental health nonprofit in San Francisco.
“It’s exciting to see our union continue to grow and represent more mental health clinicians,” NUHW President Sal Rosselli said. “With such a strong membership, we’re emerging as a powerful voice for mental health workers and a forceful advocate for a health care system that puts mental health care on equal footing with physical health care.”