The age-old story of worker versus boss is playing out at Saint Louise Regional Hospital, and a strike seems likely even though administrators say they have compromised in good faith with the upset union.
"Everybody's pissed," Ernest Gonzales, a local steward for the SEIU United Healthcare Workers union, said Wednesday afternoon outside the hospital cafeteria. "They're threatening us and trying to intimidate us," Gonzales said.
"Most of them have been pro-strike," Gonzales said of the union members who, among other things, have demanded a stronger voice in quality care, increased job security and insurance benefits and the ability to have a third party arbitrator break stalled negotiations.
During the latest round of talks last week, the hospital agreed to some of these demands, but union members called it a ruse: The administration weakened current contract language on job security and arbitration going into the first round of negotiations last March - before the union members' contracts expired April 30 - and has since restored that language and called it progress, Gonzales and others said.
Record VTA ridership
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority continues to see a spike in ridership this year, reaching a record high for light rail boardings, according to numbers provided by the agency. Ridership during the summer typically dips due to kids being out of school and people on vacation. Combined with the high cost of fuel and the green consciousness to protect the environment, the total ridership on VTA's bus and light rail system continues to climb.
In June 2008, total monthly system ridership for bus and light rail was 3,832,862, an increase of 7.6 percent over June 2007. Average weekday ridership was 150,320, a jump of 9 percent compared to 2007 and the highest since June of 2002.
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