Posts tagged health care workers
Commentary: 1,000 health care workers protest take-over of their local. Are union officials listening?
October 8, 2026 // In 2009, a political disagreement about organizing and bargaining strategy, involving the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and its second largest healthcare local, led to a costly and disastrous trusteeship in California. Tens of millions of dollars were squandered on this bitter internal fight. Thousands of SEIU members angrily protested the removal of their elected leaders, who faced trumped up charges and a multi-million dollar damage suit. In response to their rights being trampled, rank-and-filers, who only wanted to democratize and reform SEIU, instead created the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), an organizational rival.
Op-ed: Hospital Strikes Should Be Illegal
October 7, 2026 // Hospital workers should not be legally permitted to withhold their critical labor from the patients who need them just because their union has a disagreement with management. If railroad workers can’t do it and public employees can’t do it, hospital workers should not be able to do it either. Congress should amend the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit strikes by hospital employees.
CA Post Editorial Board: ‘Unite Here’ needs to unite, here, to make World Cup a success
June 8, 2026 // The union, which spent piles of cash on the recent primary elections, wants to exploit the World Cup to flex its political muscle. It’s top demand has nothing to do with its contract with the stadium, or with FIFA, but is rather just a complaint about immigration enforcement. The union wants employees to be able to walk off the job if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is operating at the venue. That’s an insane demand. Essentially, the union wants illegal immigrants to be able to work at SoFi — jobs Americans, want and deserve. The unions also wants its members to be able to skip work virtually at will, whenever they decide that ICE is some kind of threat.
More than 30,000 Kaiser Permanente health care workers to end strike in California and Hawaii
February 24, 2026 // Those on picket lines, including pharmacists, midwives and rehab therapists, said salaries have not kept pace with inflation and there is not enough staffing to keep up with patient demand. They asked for a 25% wage increase over four years to make up for wages they say are at least 7% behind their peers. Kaiser Permanente had countered with a 21.5% increase over four years. The company maintained that its union employees earn, on average, 16% more than their peers, and that it would have to charge customers more to meet strikers' pay demands.
Commentary: Nurses in New York City Say They Deserve $200,000 a Year. Here’s Why.
January 26, 2026 // As a strike by health workers stretches into its second week, pay is a major issue in negotiations, even if it’s not discussed much on the picket line.
Teachers Union Anti-Trump Lawfare Cases Have Little Connection to K-12 Public School Education
December 4, 2025 // The AFT began as exclusively a teachers union but has six separate divisions that also represent other public school employees, such as teacher aides, custodians, and bus drivers, as well as health care workers and higher education faculty. The union’s website says it also represents public employees, including federal and state employees. “The AFT’s lawsuit spree against the Trump administration reveals what we’ve long known: these organizations have strayed far from their mission of representing teachers,” Aaron Withe, president of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a conservative education group, told The Daily Signal. “This is exactly why so many teachers are choosing to opt out—they want representation focused on their profession, not a political action committee.”
5,800 Sharp HealthCare workers to strike in California
November 17, 2025 // “While it’s unfortunate that the union leaders have rejected our generous economic proposal, our highest priority is making sure our patients continue to receive outstanding care should a strike actually occur,” Rita Essaian, DM, MHA, senior vice president and chief people officer at Sharp, said in a statement. “If a strike takes place, it’s important for San Diegans to know that we will ensure adequate staffing levels at all times with Sharp staff and the specially trained traveling nurses.”
Kaiser workers authorize strike as contracts are set to expire
October 2, 2025 // "The Alliance unions’ claims about Kaiser Permanente quality and staffing do not reflect the facts. Kaiser Permanente consistently meets or exceeds state-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios. In 2024, we hired over 6,300 employees—including 4,700 in care delivery and more than 1,600 in Alliance-represented roles. Our employees like their work and stay with us: Alliance employees have a turnover rate of just 8%, compared to the industry average of 20%, and typically stay with Kaiser Permanente for an average of 23 years at retirement.
NY’s largest health care workers union topples longtime prez
May 6, 2025 // Members of New York’s largest health care workers union just voted to topple their longtime president amid accusations of mismanagement and lavish spending. Yvonne Armstrong, senior executive president of Service Employees International Union 1199 East, easily defeated George Gresham in a landslide vote of 26,623 to 11,722 in a sign of major discontent over the current leadership.
1199 SEIU boss George Gresham accused of corruption — but no Democrat will investigate
April 14, 2025 // His rivals accuse the chronically ill Gresham (who draws a $300,000 salary) of numerous misappropriations, including: $60,000 to cover his daughter’s room, board and transportation to accompany him on business trips as his caregiver. Over $300,000 on a “get out the vote” concert series that coincided with Gresham family reunions. $17,000 on a hotel next to Montefiore Medical Center when he was receiving dialysis treatment. $86,000 for flights to South Africa in 2014 and 2018. A no-show union job that’s paid a Gresham ally over $1 million since 2009.