Members of UE Local 1004 are set to strike March 20 at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, Calif., radio station KHTS reported.
The union represents 700 employees, including patient care attendants, techs and other support staff, according to a UE news release posted on scvnews.com. Henry Mayo has more than 1,800 employees total.
Union members announced their plans to hold a "one-day unfair labor practice strike" earlier this week.
"We are striking to protest the hospital administration's illegal attempts to intimidate us," Stacy Suarez, a surgical tech at the hospital, said. "We have a legal right to act together to let management know what we need in bargaining, and they are trying to silence our voices."
The union contends that hospital administration has prohibited workers from wearing union insignia or discussing negotiations; threatened reprisals against workers for exercising their rights to concerted union activity; interfered with the rights of members of the union bargaining committee to participate in contract talks; failed to provide relevant and necessary information in a timely fashion that has been requested by the union for negotiations; and refused to meaningfully address low wages in negotiations.
Henry Mayo expressed disappointment about the strike plans.
"We remain fully committed to bargaining in good faith until we reach a new agreement. Strikes benefit no one, especially our employees," the hospital said in a statement shared with Becker's.
The hospital also disputed the union's claims, saying that "the union has characterized this as an 'unfair labor practice strike,' [but] the reality is that Henry Mayo has not in any way committed any unfair labor practices and this strike has nothing to do with any alleged treatment of our employees. Rather, we have followed the law and bargained in good faith at all times."
Both sides have been in negotiations for four months. During negotiations, Henry Mayo said a small group of union leaders rejected the offer of the largest wage increase in the more than two decades of UE representation, rejected continued negotiations and called the strike.
Henry Mayo said the hospital "will take necessary steps to ensure every one of our patients always receives safe, high-quality care, regardless of our labor situation."