Palomar Health nurses and caregivers are planning a strike on June 23, citing a stalemate in contract negotiations and concerns about staff.
The picketing next Thursday is planned for 7 to 9 am along the sidewalk of Pomerado Road next to the main entrance to Palomar Medical Center Povai.
There will also be a group gathered from 7 am to 7 pm along the Citracado Parkway sidewalk next to the entrance to the main entrance to Palomar Medical Center Escondido.
Presented by the California Nurses Association and the Nursing and Health Care Workers Union, members voted on June 7 and 8 to give the Palomar Health Administration a 10-day notice that they intend to continue with the one-day suspension.
The union said in a statement that it had been in talks for 14 months without reaching satisfactory agreements with the Palomar-led health district, declaring it an “illegal dead end” and imposing “terms and conditions without union consent”.
The unions accuse Palomar of “leading many units with skeletal staff”, including trauma, intensive care and emergency departments, pointing out that too few workers have been available “since Palomar introduced redundancies at the height of the 2020 pandemic”.
Hospital executive director Diane Hansen said in a statement that the union’s claims “do not reflect the exact opinion of everyone.”
“We will remain focused on our primary mission, which is to provide San Diego County and surrounding communities with access to outstanding health care and services,” Hansen said.
According to Palomar Health, negotiations have stalled over economic and personnel issues such as layoffs and recalls. It was said that “the economic demands of the union of 400-500 million dollars are simply not affordable” and that they would negatively affect the mission of the district to offer the highest quality of health care.
Nearly 3,000 nurses and other caregivers are represented at Palomar’s hospitals in Escondido and Poveya, although Palomar said in a statement that those who do not pay union dues could not vote.
According to Palomar Health, unions represent 70 percent of nurses and caregivers in the hospital district.
Some employees who could not vote, Palomar said, were shocked by the decision to strike. The union did not respond to a request to verify that statement.
“For this reason, the decision to strike was a shock to many, as the responses we received from Palomar Health nurses and caregivers were extremely positive,” Palomar said in a statement.
The last time Palomar Health and the unions signed a contract was on May 31, 2021.
According to Palomar Health, in April, employees in the CNA and CHEU negotiating units recorded an average salary increase of 4 percent. Starting in July, registered nurses and caregivers will receive another salary increase of 4 percent on average. This will continue to grow by another 4 percent on average in July 2023 and another 4 percent on average in July 2024.
“This is a total increase of over 16 percent - an extremely competitive package, which doubles other health systems,” said Palomar Health officials. “Benefits are estimated at 38 percent of the fee compared to market competitors at 25 percent.
Some other changes included raising the minimum wage for all caregivers to $ 16 per hour, and there was an increase in the percentage of bonuses associated with longevity pay. There are also special salaries in the fields of surgery that are difficult to fulfill, the emergency department, women’s services, intensive care units, cardiac catheter laboratories, interventional radiology, preoperative care and the post-acute care unit, officials said.
The Northern District Health System reported that it had organized 200 “traveling” nurses, working on temporary contracts, to fill those who decide to protest next Thursday. Palomar said he might “consider some decompression range of patients” that could “include a mild impact on elective surgery”, but did not estimate how many cases should be delayed.