Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Patient-care workers strike at UC’s Thornton Hospital in La Jolla

Statewide protest to voice objections with management

Thirty minutes into a healthcare workers rally at UC San Diego Thornton Hospital, La Jolla, on May 21, a healthcare technician in blue scrubs approached the microphone and said a deal had been reached between the university and the labor union.

As he spoke, he held up a briefcase with large stickers on it that read: “Golden Handshakes for UC.”

“What are they going to offer us here?” he asked the crowd of about 200 patient-care technical workers who were making noise in support of AFSCME Local 3299, a union that represents 20,000 University of California employees. The speaker then opened the briefcase and pulled out several cans and a bag of cat food. The crowd made more noise.

The rallies on May 21 and 22 took place statewide, from Sacramento to San Diego, during a patient-care technical worker strike at UC Medical Centers. After a year of stalled negotiations over skyrocketing compensations for execs, staffing levels, and other sticking points, the nursing aides, radiologists, respiratory therapists, surgical technicians, pathology lab technicians (and many others) have had enough.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The skit on the lawn in front of Thornton Hospital aimed to symbolize the “shift in values” that stem from a 2011 policy change, which resulted in soaring management salaries and management costs. Meanwhile, UC Medical Centers recently announced their intent to reduce 300 hospital workers, or 4 percent of its full-time workforce, according to the union. The union also reports that UC Medical System earns almost $7 billion in operating revenues and profits in the hundreds of millions.

“These numbers are staggering,” said Larry Scinta, a respiratory therapist on the bargaining team for a new contract. “We’re making money. But they’re cutting us everywhere we look.” He said some employees have been working as per diem employees for as many as five years, without holiday pay, sick pay, or pension plans, while they wait to be hired on as a permanent employee. Scinta was one of many who complained about being overworked to compensate for the imbalance in hiring practices.

“I’m forced to work 10- to 12-hour shifts every day and sometimes don’t get a lunch break,” he said. “They tell some people they can’t work overtime and others they run into the ground.”

Kelly Lloyd said she is one of seven cardiovascular technician assistants who work daytime hours on weekdays and for 15 days a month is expected to cover emergency calls on nights and weekends. Her coworker said he had worked 212 hours last month, and Lloyd said that has been the average number of hours for the employees in her department for at least the past year and a half. “Everyone’s burned out,” Lloyd said. “We’re short-staffed. It’s just a matter of time before something happens. We want to be able to properly care for our patients. We need our rest, too.”

Victoria Ledford works in the sterilization department and prepares the operating rooms for procedures. She wore an “I’m willing to strike” button on her shirt during the rally and flapped noisemakers alongside others in the crowd.

Ledford said her willingness to strike comes after 11 years as an employee and finding out UC’s plans to make retirement cuts and increase parking-permit fees. She said the parking fee for employees has increased from $50 to $82 a month since she began working at the hospital.

Update: May 24, 3:40 p.m. —

A statement issued by the UC San Diego Health System, "UC officials are disappointed that AFSCME is threatening services to patients as a tactic in negotiations that are mainly about pension benefits. UC has proposed a total compensation package that includes competitive wages, excellent medical and retirement benefits, and good working conditions....

"In fact, the average annual earnings of UC San Diego Health System patient care technical employee in the AFSME union is $52,617.60 in wages with an additional benefits package valued at $19,468.51. And while AFSME claims understaffing as a concern, more than 140 positions have been added to their union in the last two years."

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

More on San Diego inventions – Spike Bite and disappearing ink

The scandal of county supervisors at the library
Next Article

Roll-over crashes crop up in San Diego and Baja

Nails, beer, Coca-Cola, Mexican pop singer Luis Miguel's stage equipment

Thirty minutes into a healthcare workers rally at UC San Diego Thornton Hospital, La Jolla, on May 21, a healthcare technician in blue scrubs approached the microphone and said a deal had been reached between the university and the labor union.

As he spoke, he held up a briefcase with large stickers on it that read: “Golden Handshakes for UC.”

“What are they going to offer us here?” he asked the crowd of about 200 patient-care technical workers who were making noise in support of AFSCME Local 3299, a union that represents 20,000 University of California employees. The speaker then opened the briefcase and pulled out several cans and a bag of cat food. The crowd made more noise.

The rallies on May 21 and 22 took place statewide, from Sacramento to San Diego, during a patient-care technical worker strike at UC Medical Centers. After a year of stalled negotiations over skyrocketing compensations for execs, staffing levels, and other sticking points, the nursing aides, radiologists, respiratory therapists, surgical technicians, pathology lab technicians (and many others) have had enough.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The skit on the lawn in front of Thornton Hospital aimed to symbolize the “shift in values” that stem from a 2011 policy change, which resulted in soaring management salaries and management costs. Meanwhile, UC Medical Centers recently announced their intent to reduce 300 hospital workers, or 4 percent of its full-time workforce, according to the union. The union also reports that UC Medical System earns almost $7 billion in operating revenues and profits in the hundreds of millions.

“These numbers are staggering,” said Larry Scinta, a respiratory therapist on the bargaining team for a new contract. “We’re making money. But they’re cutting us everywhere we look.” He said some employees have been working as per diem employees for as many as five years, without holiday pay, sick pay, or pension plans, while they wait to be hired on as a permanent employee. Scinta was one of many who complained about being overworked to compensate for the imbalance in hiring practices.

“I’m forced to work 10- to 12-hour shifts every day and sometimes don’t get a lunch break,” he said. “They tell some people they can’t work overtime and others they run into the ground.”

Kelly Lloyd said she is one of seven cardiovascular technician assistants who work daytime hours on weekdays and for 15 days a month is expected to cover emergency calls on nights and weekends. Her coworker said he had worked 212 hours last month, and Lloyd said that has been the average number of hours for the employees in her department for at least the past year and a half. “Everyone’s burned out,” Lloyd said. “We’re short-staffed. It’s just a matter of time before something happens. We want to be able to properly care for our patients. We need our rest, too.”

Victoria Ledford works in the sterilization department and prepares the operating rooms for procedures. She wore an “I’m willing to strike” button on her shirt during the rally and flapped noisemakers alongside others in the crowd.

Ledford said her willingness to strike comes after 11 years as an employee and finding out UC’s plans to make retirement cuts and increase parking-permit fees. She said the parking fee for employees has increased from $50 to $82 a month since she began working at the hospital.

Update: May 24, 3:40 p.m. —

A statement issued by the UC San Diego Health System, "UC officials are disappointed that AFSCME is threatening services to patients as a tactic in negotiations that are mainly about pension benefits. UC has proposed a total compensation package that includes competitive wages, excellent medical and retirement benefits, and good working conditions....

"In fact, the average annual earnings of UC San Diego Health System patient care technical employee in the AFSME union is $52,617.60 in wages with an additional benefits package valued at $19,468.51. And while AFSME claims understaffing as a concern, more than 140 positions have been added to their union in the last two years."

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Jacobs Music Center Grand Opening

The concert did what it was designed to do
Next Article

Happy accidents on the Bob Ross soundtrack

Jason Lee and Dave Klein craft new sounds for a classic show
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader