NUHW continues growth at Keck-USC
Nearly two dozen workers from the USC Downtown Clinic overwhelmingly voted to join over 1,700 of their co-workers at USC as members of NUHW.
The election is the latest residual organizing victory for NUHW in the USC-Keck healthcare system — momentum that NUHW members maintained this month by beating back the university’s attempt to deny raises to new NUHW members at the USC Roski Eye Institute.
USC sought to deny basic raises that other newly organized NUHW members had received and insert contractual language that would have prevented raises for new members who were already at above the wage scale.
Such language would have hampered continued efforts to organize more Keck-USC workers, but the university backed down when Roski workers authorized a strike and their fellow NUHW members authorized a picket in support of their colleagues.
“We have strength in numbers at USC,” said Patient Access Representative Angie Aguilar. “I’m proud to be part of a union where we all stand together for each other and the patients we serve.”
The newest NUHW members at Keck-USC include licensed vocational nurses, medical assistants, mammography techs, support coordinators and patient access representatives at the downtown Los Angeles facility that offers a variety of medical services.
“Everyone likes the idea that our jobs are now secure,” said Medical Assistant Andy Ortiz, who has worked at the clinic for nearly four years. “We’re looking forward to negotiations and waiting to start enjoying the benefits other USC workers already have.”
Ortiz said that management tried to dissuade him and his colleagues from joining, but they wanted to win the same improvements that their NUHW colleagues had secured in recent contracts, including pay raises, job security, tuition reimbursement, and a completely employer-funded health plan.