Central Coast Planned Parenthood workers plan to strike next week over what they claim are unfair labor practices.
Unionized healthcare staff, including medical assistants and clinicians, will walk off the job next Monday and Tuesday at clinics across the Central Coast– unless the union and management reach an agreement.
According to the union, SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, low pay and lack of support from management has led to high turnover and understaffing. This reportedly causes longer wait times for patients and lower quality care.
Emily Medal, a clinician at the Santa Barbara clinic, said workers felt they had no choice but to strike.
“We are the ones that know what it's like day-in and day-out in the clinic and we just feel like we haven't been heard,” Medal said. “It's been at least nine months of bargaining, and this isn't a decision that we took lightly and made overnight.”
Medal said she is unsure of how the strike will affect patients, but management was given ten days’ notice to prepare.
In a statement to KCBX, Planned Parenthood California Central Coast said it is doing its best to bargain in good faith, despite funding losses and ongoing threats to its budget. The organization said it has reached tentative agreements with workers on 15 issues, with only a few left unresolved.
On day one of the strike, workers plan to rally at De La Guerra Plaza in Santa Barbara. On day two, actions will take place at different locations across the Central Coast.
