Nearly 2,000 workers joined NUHW in the past year

California Pacific Medical CenterDecember 21, 2016

In 2016, we organized more than 1,800 workers in five facilities throughout California, winning nine elections in new and residual organizing campaigns.  

St. Joseph – Queen of the Valley Medical Center: In November, 419 previously unrepresented service and technical workers at Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa voted by a 3-2 margin to join NUHW. Workers organized to advocate for improvements in staffing levels and quality of care and to achieve parity with their NUHW-represented counterparts at other St. Joseph hospitals. NUHW now represents service and technical workers at all of St. Joseph’s Northern California hospitals, including 1,300 workers at Humboldt County’s St. Joseph Hospital Eureka and Redwood Memorial Hospital and Sonoma County’s Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and Petaluma Valley Hospital.

december-pulse-new-organizing-queen-650

NUHW members at Queen of the Valley.

USC Norris Cancer Hospital: One hundred and twenty caregivers at the University of Southern California’s Norris Cancer Hospital voted by a 2-1 margin to join NUHW in August. Their goals are to improve staffing and the quality of care at the hospital, protect benefits, and to achieve parity with their NUHW-represented counterparts at USC’s Keck Hospital. In addition, 50 Sodexo-employed workers at Norris voted to join in November. Between Norris and USC’s Keck Hospital, we now represent more than 1,000 workers at USC facilities.

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland: In a two-month span, about 400 workers at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland voted to join nearly 500 of their coworkers as members of NUHW, almost doubling our membership at the hospital. In June, 70 Children’s Hospital technical workers voted to join NUHW, and in August, 300 office and administrative workers followed suit. They organized to advocate for improvements in staffing levels, patient care, job security, and respect in the workplace.

december-pulse-cho-650

NUHW members at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.


Fountain Valley Regional Hospital: Nearly 600 service and technical workers at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, the largest for-profit hospital in Orange County, voted to join NUHW in May. Caregivers organized to advocate for increased staffing levels, improved patient care, and fair wages at the Tenet-owned hospital. In October, more than 100 dietary and housekeeping workers at Fountain Valley, subcontracted by Sodexo, voted to join their service and tech coworkers as members of NUHW.

Kindred Hospital Bay Area: Thirty respiratory therapists at Kindred Hospital Bay Area, a transitional care facility in San Leandro, voted to join NUHW in February, uniting with NUHW-represented service workers at the facility. Two months later, nearly 110 registered nurses and professional and service workers also voted to join, more than doubling our membership in the facility and making it wall-to-wall NUHW. Kindred workers are fighting for safe staffing levels and fair wages and benefits to help combat the hospital’s high turnover rate.