SEIU Texas represents more than 6,000 healthcare workers and janitors in Corpus Christi, El Paso and Houston, according to its website. This includes about 1,000 non-nurse staff at the El Paso hospitals, such as personal care technicians, laboratory and equipment technicians, and maintenance, cleaning and kitchen workers.
Las Palmas and Del Sol hospitals are part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare.
Under the new contract, which expires in May 2026, the Las Palmas and Del Sol hospitals’ hourly minimum wage increases $1 to $13.50, according to a union news release shared with Becker’s.
“This contract represents a great step forward in securing better pay for healthcare workers and safe staffing to care for healthcare patients,” Michelle Harvey, a Del Sol surgical technician and union steward, said in the release. “We hope the better pay and treatment in this contract will provide El Paso with the higher quality healthcare it deserves.”
According to the union, the contract also includes:
- 6.4 percent compounded wage increase by 2026
- A 1.5 percent “market equity adjustment” to increase the pay of high demand jobs
- Bereavement leave expansion to include the family of a worker’s spouse
- A guarantee of no increase to healthcare costs and premiums
Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare shared a statement with Becker’s, which states, in part, “We continue to provide a competitive wage for a hospital system in El Paso, as well as support our colleagues and their families by providing a generous and flexible benefit package with benefits specifically designed to support our colleagues’ families and careers, including expanded family leave benefits, tuition reimbursement, dependent scholarship program and financial wellness coaching.”
“We are proud of the high-quality care we provide and continue to recruit new staff. Additionally, we have received many recent recognitions for quality and safety from reputable, independent healthcare organizations. Del Sol Medical Center and Las Palmas Medical Center recently received Healthgrades’ 2023 America’s 250 Best Hospitals Award, and both facilities earned ‘A’ grades from The Leapfrog Group’s Fall 2022 Hospital Safety Grades, making Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare the only hospital system in El Paso to earn an ‘A’ for all eligible facilities.”
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