Hospital Security Officers Launch Statewide Strike to Protest Unfair Labor Practices

Oakland, Calif.-Hundreds of security officers responsible for protecting patients and staff at Kaiser medical facilities throughout the state launched an unprecedented three-day strike today to protest unfair labor practices by employer Inter-Con Security.

The strike, which runs May 6-8, follows numerous complaints to the National Labor Relations Board in recent weeks about Inter-Con's repeated use of heavy-handed tactics to prevent officers from forming a union. The complaints cited Inter-Con's use of spying, threats, intimidation and retaliation against officers.

"It's clear that Inter-Con has repeatedly committed unfair labor practices in violation of the law,"said Orrin Baird, Associate General Counsel for SEIU. "That's the whole basis of this strike-workers' civil rights have been violated."

Dozens of security officers gathered outside the Kaiser Oakland Medical Center and the Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center early Tuesday morning to launch the strike, with dozens more officers conducting similar three-day walk-outs at 15 Kaiser medical facilities throughout Northern and Central California from Modesto to Santa Rosa.

Hundreds of security officers in Southern California will join the strike for one day on Thursday, May 8, with protests scheduled at nine Kaiser medical facilities in Los Angeles, San Fernando and Anaheim.

"We wanted a union for better pay and benefits. But instead we've got Inter-Con violating our civil rights. We go to work every day to protect these patients and employees, but we have no protections ourselves,"said Warren Chauvin, a security officer from Fremont.

Since November 2005, 1,500 Inter-Con security officers in California have been working to improve security and working conditions by forming a union with SEIU. They are the only workers at Kaiser-either direct employees or subcontracted-who do not have a union.

Inter-Con officers work for poverty wages, many making as little as $9/hour while at Kaiser. Many Inter-Con officers cannot afford the family healthcare coverage and do not have paid sick days. By comparison, facility janitors have free family healthcare, make a minimum of $11.50/hour and accrue paid sick leave.

The strike proceeded despite attempts by Inter-Con over the past few days to stop it. Inter-Con filed a complaint with the NLRB asking it to seek a court injunction blocking the strike. Inter-Con claims that the strike is an illegal strike by officers over union recognition.

"Obviously Inter-Con is scared or they wouldn't try this. We all know they've broken the law and we're just taking action to protect our civil rights,"said Allen Newland, a security officer in Sacramento.

For more information about the struggle by security officers form a union, visit www.standforsecurity.org.