Approximately 150 healthcare workers picketed outside the Sutter Center for Psychiatry hospital in Sacramento, Calif., Nov. 8 to protest wages and claim the system is "anti-union," according to a Nov. 8 report from The Sacramento Bee.
In October 2021, workers at the facility voted to unionize, but there has as yet been no official contract signed, the report said. Meanwhile, wages have stagnated and there is a lack of adequate staffing, workers claim.
"Sutter Health is an anti-union employer that's trying to punish workers for forming a union in hopes that other Sutter workers won't do the same,” said National Union of Healthcare Workers President Sal Rosselli.
Sacramento-based Sutter Health rejects such a claim and said in a statement to the Bee it remains focused on reaching a final contract, aspects of which have already been tentatively agreed on, the system said.
“We greatly value the quality care and support our employees provide patients," a Sutter spokesperson told Becker's. "In turn, we provide team members competitive pay and benefits, as well as resources and opportunities to grow and develop their careers."