A union of health care workers known as the United Health Professionals of New Mexico rallied outside University of New Mexico Hospital’s Sandoval Regional Medical Center on Monday calling for a 3% raise that every employee received except those the union seeks to represent.
The health care workers union, a division of the American Federation of Teachers, offered UNMH a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that would give union workers the same wage increase the hospital gave the rest of the hospital system earlier this month. The hospital still has to gather at the bargaining table to agree to the wages.
“I mean, they gave it to everyone, across the board, except for the 200 of us, and that's unfair,” said ER nurse Samantha Hines.
She said that, without competitive wages, the hospital struggles to retain employees.
“And I think that patient care suffers when you don't have enough permanent staff,” she said.
Medical Assistant Grace Gutierrez said she feels unsupported by hospital management.
“They can walk around all day long [saying], ‘What can I do for you? What do you need?’ But if you're not going to provide what we need, we lean upon each other in each clinic,” she said.
About 20 people attended the rally. Gutierrez said more employees wanted to join but were afraid of retaliation.
“But without nobody speaking, we're left stagnant,” she said.
In a phone call with KUNM after the rally, UNMH spokesperson Christopher Ramirez said the hospital did include the union’s workers in a wage increase earlier this year. However, union leadership filed a complaint with the state labor board because the raise came without a bargaining agreement.
He said the hospital is, “willing and looking forward to negotiation” with the union’s regular employees, but that the union has declined until PRN or “as-needed” staff are also included. Ramirez said the question of whether it is legal for such staff to be brought into the contract is being heard in state district court, with an answer likely a year out.
He argued the medical center already pays competitively “for the market,” and that regular staff there could be making better wages if union leaders agreed to a more limited negotiation.
As for employees fearing retaliation, Ramirez said health care workers are legally prohibited from walking off the job, but that the hospital would “be respectful of the First Amendment rights” of any staff rallying lawfully.
He said leadership is reviewing the union’s MOA, which it received after the start of the rally.
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