SAN DIEGO (CNS) — Technical workers with a local chapter of the teamsters union have voted to authorize a strike against Rady Children's Hospital, the union announced today.
On Friday, members of United Nurses of Children's Hospital Teamsters Local 1699, "voted by an overwhelming majority," union officials said in a news release.
The United Nurses of Children's Hospital Teamsters Local 1699 represents over 600 technical employees among the 2,000-plus members working at the hospital. The union said Friday's vote "comes after months of stalled negotiations and a continued refusal by hospital leadership to offer a contract that values the critical work of the hospital's technical unit."
Hospital technical workers include lab technicians, licensed vocational nurses, pharmacy techs, respiratory therapists and surgical technologists.
While union members approved a strike, that doesn't necessarily mean one will take place, UNOCH spokesman Christian Castro said.
Bargaining is scheduled to resume on Tuesday.
"San Diego has become one of the most expensive places to live in the country, but our wages haven't kept up," said Jennifer Pratt, a radiology technologist at Rady Children's.
A spokesman for Rady Children's Hospital said hospital officials were "fully committed to reaching a fair and timely agreement" with the union.
The spokesman said authorizing a strike "is a step unions often take when preparing for the possibility that a new labor agreement may not be reached or that an extension of the current agreement is not secured.
"If UNOCH decides to call a strike, the union is required to provide Rady Children's with 10 days notice. A strike cannot begin while a collective bargaining agreement or an extension of one is in place. The current agreement has been extended through July 5.
Last August, days ahead of a planned strike, unionized nurses reached an agreement with Rady Children's, which union leaders described as "the best contract offer in decades."
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