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Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital Workers to Strike, Monday

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About 800 workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital are kicking off a week-long strike Monday.

The National Union of Healthcare Workers represents nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, and janitorial workers, among other jobs.

In a statement, Providence-St. Joseph Health, which owns the hospital, criticized the union for staging a strike in the middle of a public health crisis.

Bargaining team member Steven Batson says his union voted to strike back in February and held off until now.

“Providence is weaponizing this pandemic so they can increase our healthcare costs and give us wage increases that barely match the cost of living," Batson said.

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Hospital officials say they're offering competitive raises. But workers don’t want their healthcare premiums to go up or time-off to be reduced.

The hospital intends to keep the emergency department open by bringing in contract workers from an outside agency.

— Raquel Maria Dillon (@RaquelMDillon)

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