New Children’s Hospital contract protects job, keeps care in Oakland
Workers at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland have ratified a one-year contract that provides job security for workers and helps protect healthcare services for East Bay kids.
Since the hospital became an affiliate of UCSF in 2014, UCSF has moved jobs and services to its flagship campus in San Francisco’s Mission Bay, laying off workers and forcing East Bay families to travel farther for medical care.
The hospital initially had no intention of addressing this concern in the contract, but workers stood firm and ultimately won job protections including a moratorium on layoffs until April 2022, an increase in the length of notice required in the event of a closure or merger, and a commitment to bargain the impacts of any changes.
The contract also provides 3 percent raises for all workers, and accretes into the contract ten dietetic assistants.
“We persevered and won an agreement with good raises and strong job security language,” said José Luis Caicedo, an interpreter at the hospital.