Workers at Fountain Valley (Calif.) Regional Hospital and Medical Center voted to strike Feb. 1 if a contract dispute isn't resolved, according to the OC Weekly.
The one-day strike would affect housekeeping and food staff represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers and employed by subcontractor Sodexo.
"The majority of workers voted to strike because we're paid minimum wages," Gabriela Armenta, a housekeeper at the hospital, told the OC Weekly in Spanish. "There's even people with 10 years experience making minimum wage."
The strike vote comes as Sodexo and NUHW have yet to reach a labor contract. In addition to pay, the workers have also claimed the cost of benefits is high and staffing levels are low, according to the report.
Sodexo expressed disappointment in the strike vote in a statement to Becker's, and said the company is committed to good-faith bargaining.
"We have been negotiating in good faith with the National Union of Healthcare Workers, with a goal to reach a new collective bargaining agreement that is equitable for everyone, including our employees, and we still intend to achieve such an agreement," the statement reads. "We're disappointed that the union has called for a strike in the midst of ongoing collective bargaining and we hope that our employees will not strike as we work with the union to establish a new agreement. Out of respect for the ongoing process, we will defer commenting on details at this point."
Fountain Valley Regional echoed Sodexo in its own statement, saying it hopes the contract is quickly resolved.
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