Southern California Hospital Workers Go On Strike at USC Keck Medical

Hundreds of hospital workers went on a 24 hour strike Wednesday outside the USC Keck Medical Center. X-ray technicians, certified nursing assistants, and housekeeping staff could be seen picketing in front of the building.

Union workers have been in negotiations with the hospital for over a year, represented by the National Union of Healthcare. The union grievances include a one year freeze in wages, a serious staffing problem, and the hospital workers are not part of the university's tuition and retirement benefits plan.

The hospital stated that the NUHW employees are among the highest paid in the nation. The hospital also believes its operations have not been disrupted and said they are doing everything in their power to make sure the patient's and families are well taken care of.

The hospital workers have a different opinion about the situation. Noemi Aguirre, a respiratory technician remarked, "we have a lot of units where we are just plain short-staffed and they haven't addressed those issues for us." Aguirre also noted that this problem has been going on for 14 months. Aguirre commented that one of the sticking points with the negotiations are the union workers not having a voice in the patient care with the patient care committees.

One issue of concern is the recent hospital worker strikes that occurred in Northern California, resulting in a replacement nurse administering the wrong medication to a cancer patient who died from the mistake. Dr. Bruce G. Fagel, a licensed medical doctor and medical malpractice attorney was quoted by the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times, September 26, 2011, "having replacement or temporary nurses working in hospitals for extended periods increases the risk of medical mistakes that harm patients."

The National Labor Relations Board in Los Angeles will hear the workers grievances later this month.