CASTRO VALLEY - About 130 lab technicians at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley went on strike Friday, picketing for a 7 percent pay hike and better pension plans.
The hospital said patient care was not disrupted and that temporary workers were filling all critical positions. If the strike continues, a spokeswoman said, it is possible outpatient lab tests will be referred to other facilities.
It is an open-ended strike and will continue until demands are met, a union spokesman said. No further contract talks are scheduled.
Among strikers are technicians who operate X-ray machines, monitors and other equipment in radiology, cardiology and respiratory units at the hospital. They complained Friday of feeling like "second-class" citizens compared with other hospital workers, particularly after nurses there won an 18 percent pay raise earlier this week.
"They have no respect for us," X-ray technician Shannon Woynt of Castro Valley said. Unlike nurses and some other hospital staff, the technicians do not receive extra pay for working weekends or night shifts.
"I work swing shifts, and I'm working side by side with a nurse," Valencia Benjamin, a respiratory therapist from Antioch, said. "And why should she get a 20 percent swing differential and I don't?"
Hospital spokeswoman Cassandra Phelps said the nurses received higher pay raises in part because of the state's ongoing nursing shortage.
"The competition for nurses is extremely stiff, and to attract new nurses and retain the ones we had, we had to offer that package," she said. "If you look at it like a pie, there are only so many pieces of the pie, and at some point there is no more to give."
The technicians unionized under the Teamsters union last year and have been in on-again, off-again negotiations for a contract since. In the most recent negotiations, they sought a 7 percent raise over two years, but management offered only 5 percent, noting that many of the techs are eligible for an automatic 3 to 6 percent annual raise.
The workers also are seeking a choice of pension plans, including the Teamsters plan, while management only offered the pension plan extended to the nurses. The union also wants a health plan with better coverage for children and other improvements.
Ryan Tate is a business reporter. Reach him at 925-977-8568 or rtate@cctimes.com.
Caption: Photo- EDEN MEDICAL CENTER technician Denise Inan of Hayward is
one of about 130 technicians who went on strike Friday. (Doug
Duran/Times)
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