Page One

Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Wilma Chan announced a proposed resolution supporting the Service Employee International Union Local 250 strike against Sutter Health. Presiding over a packed meeting hall, Chan and Supervisor Keith Carson, members of the board’s Health Committee, thanked the gathered health workers for their hard work, calling them “the front line of health care.” The nine point resolution will now be referred to the full board of supervisors for approval. 

Acknowledging that 300,000 people in Alameda and Contra Costa County lack health insurance, and that Sutter Health will become the dominant provider of hospital services in Alameda County, the resolution supported contract incentives that would support quality patient care. This included all of the union’s chief demands – giving them a voice in setting staffing levels; fair wages and good benefits in order to recruit and retain quality staff, and training to help the health-care workforce meet the changing demands of the industry. 

After listening to testimony from dozens of health care workers and community leaders, Chan said, "We share the community’s concern about mergers in the health-care industry now taking place. There is a need for an integrated system of health care.”