Hospital employees in California's Santa Clara County intend to strike this week unless they reach an agreement with the county by 4 p.m. Feb. 27, The Mercury News reports.
Service Employees International Union Local 521, which represents about 4,000 workers at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and O'Connor Hospital, both in San Jose, and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, said the walkout would begin Feb. 28.
"The county is proposing eliminating the wage increase for June 2020 that they included in their last, best and final offer of 2019," Janet Diaz, union local chapter president, said in a statement to The Mercury News. "This is not only illegal, but a deliberate attack on the livelihoods of workers who not only serve the public, but who are residents of this county."
County Executive Jeff Smith, MD, JD, told the newspaper the union's claim is a mischaracterization of the county's offer.
He said the county's current proposal includes 3 percent annual salary increases over the life of a four-year deal, plus additional raises for certain positions, and is a shorter time period than the five-year contract offer from October. He said the union seeks an extra 3 percent raise and signing bonus to compensate for the year since their contract expired in June 2019.
"They're counting back to when they went out of contract in June 2019," said Dr. Smith.
The union has also called on the county to address what they say is understaffing at Valley Medical Center. A county board of supervisors meeting is scheduled for Feb. 24.
Read the full report here.