Workers at UC San Francisco Medical Center went on strike due to recent layoffs affecting frontline workers. The union representing these workers claims that UCSF Health has aligned wrong financial priorities, worsening an understaffed workforce. Thousands participated in the strike, with 100 at the picket lines and 300 at a rally. Layoffs affected nursing assistants, lab technicians, nurses, and radiological technicians. UCSF stated that 200 workers faced layoffs due to financial challenges, with cuts affecting about 1% of its workforce.
"All of us are just appalled at the utter contempt frontline workers that the university tends to hold but also just the priorities that are utterly divorced from reality," Stenhouse said. "... Our members are the ones that answer the call button, they're the ones that scan you, they're the ones that admit you, they're the ones that schedule your appointments."
The layoffs have included "nursing assistants, lab and surgical technicians, vocational nurses, and radiological technicians," the union's statement said. Stenhouse told SFGATE by phone that they believe the frontline workers were "disproportionately targeted" in the mass layoffs.
UCSF attributed the cuts to extreme financial challenges including loss of federal funding, low reimbursements for medical services and increasing operational costs. Bole at the time said the staff cuts amounted to about 1% of its workforce spread across the network, with positions that have "the least impact on patients and daily operations."
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