CHW Bay Area Region Issues Statement Regarding the Strike by SEIU, Local 250 At Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, St. Mary's Medical Center And Seton Medical Center.Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 1, 2000 On Wednesday, August 2 the leadership of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU SEIU Service Employees International Union SEIU Special Education Intake Unit SEIU Secondary Education Interdisciplinary Unit SEIU Software Engineering Institute Union ), Local 250 intends to take represented employees at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital Saint Francis Memorial Hospital (SFMH) is a hospital in San Francisco, California, USA. It is currently operated by Catholic Healthcare West. History Founded just over a century ago in San Francisco by five physicians, they undertook to build "the most up-to-date modern , St. Mary's Medical Center St. Mary's Medical Center may refer to:
Guaranteed jobs for life are simply not practical in the working world, especially in health care where patient census fluctuates. Staffing is unpredictable, which necessitates having per diem per diem adj. or n. Latin for "per day," it is short for payment of daily expenses and/or fees of an employee or an agent. employees. Local 250 doesn't guarantee lifetime jobs for its own employees. Union leadership also claims that they have no voice in staffing and patient care issues. However, in our current contract with Local 250, there are four committees that deal with staffing and patient care issues and, in fact, the Union has failed to convene the two committees that could address these issues. It is ironic that Local 250 leadership, who claims the Union does not have a voice in patient care, hailed the current contract with our hospitals by saying, "(The contract) will create an environment for Local 250 members to work with Catholic Health Care West to create a partnership as opposed to the traditional adversarial ad·ver·sar·i·al adj. Relating to or characteristic of an adversary; involving antagonistic elements: "the chasm between management and labor in this country, an often needlessly adversarial . . . relationship." (San Francisco Examiner The San Francisco Examiner is a U.S. daily newspaper. It has been published continuously in San Francisco, California, since the late 19th Century. History 19th century The beginning of the Examiner is a topic of some controversy. , November 26, 1996.) Our hospitals have developed comprehensive strike plans for August 2nd and August 3rd to assure that patients will continue to receive needed care during this work stoppage. We have many valuable employees not represented by this union including registered nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, occupational therapists occupational therapist A person trained to help people manage daily activities of living–dressing, cooking, etc, and other activities that promote recovery and regaining vocational skills Salary $51K + 4% bonus. See ADL. , social workers and other professional and support personnel. However, the temporary absence of those employees represented by Local 250 requires that we focus on inpatient and emergency services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' , and that we limit outpatient and elective procedures. We find this action by the leadership of Local 250 irresponsible. The last strike on July 6 inconvenienced patients, disrupted care and required significant time and energy in strike preparation. The leadership of Local 250 is playing fast and loose with the public's safety. It's a dangerous tactic. |
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