Members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 829 began an open-ended strike July 18 at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, Calif.
The union represents about 300 technical and service employees, but does not represent registered nurses, according to a Dignity Health statement shared with Becker's. Sequoia Hospital is part of San Francisco-based Dignity Health, which merged with Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives in February 2019 to form Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health.
Union members, which include nurses' assistants, aides, surgical techs, respiratory therapists, housekeepers and cooks, voted to go on strike July 7, according to NBC Bay Area. Dignity Health told Becker's the strike comes after several months of negotiations and that during the walkout, "Sequoia Hospital will maintain its operations in order to continue to serve our community and provide care to our patients."
The union said in a news release that its members want the hospital to provide fair pay and benefits as well as invest more in workers to keep staff and ensure high-quality patient care.
"We are going to remain on strike until we can deliver the high-quality care San Mateo County deserves through high-quality jobs we can be proud of," Yvonne Haynes, a certified nursing assistant in the medical/surgical/orthopedic unit, said in the release.
No end date has been set for the strike.