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Packard Children's and Stanford Hospitals Are Prepared for Strike By Union; Patient Care Is #1 Priority

Posted on: Thursday, 1 December 2005, 21:00 CST

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Stanford Hospital & Clinics regret that, after two months of good faith negotiations, and despite the hospitals' "last, best, and final" contract offer, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has announced today that they will begin a strike on December 12.

Both Stanford Hospital and Packard Children's engaged in good faith negotiations with the SEIU throughout the process. At the same time, in order to be prepared for any eventuality, both hospitals have been contingency planning to ensure that if any form of work stoppage should occur, both hospitals will be prepared to continue delivering quality care. "Patient care is our number one priority and we've made a commitment to maintain normal operations during this period," stated Martha H. Marsh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stanford Hospital & Clinics. "Systems are in place to ensure that we can care for our patients with non-SEIU staff and the many SEIU workers we expect will choose to work during this walkout."

The union represents 1,412 out of 8,432 employees at the hospitals. Represented positions include hospital support employees in jobs such as housekeeping, food service, nursing assistants, and certain technicians.

The most recent three-year contract between the hospitals and union expired on November 13 but talks continued through November 21. "Our approach to bargaining focused on proactively addressing the issues that are of greatest concern to our SEIU-represented employees," said Christopher G. Dawes, President and CEO of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. "While we would like to return to the negotiating table, we have made our last, best, and final offer and it is very fair and competitive. If the union presents a proposal that is within the framework of our offer, we will, of course, return to the table."

Among the hospitals' proposals are increased wages over the three year agreement totaling across the board increases of a minimum of 12%, with additional market adjustments to many job classifications. These increases are in addition to the 2% increases most employees receive with each additional year of service. We also offered significant improvements to both health insurance and retirement benefits, offers to enhance the utilization of educational benefits, and new provisions relating to job security in the event of layoffs. Said Dawes, "These employees are very important to our mission and we hope they can enjoy the benefits of this offer very soon."

About Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

Ranked as one of the nation's top 10 pediatric hospitals by U.S.News & World Report, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford is a 264-bed hospital devoted to the care of children and expectant mothers. Providing pediatric and obstetric medical and surgical services and associated with the Stanford School of Medicine, Packard Children's Hospital offers patients locally, regionally and nationally the full range of health-care programs and services from preventive and routine care to the diagnosis and treatment of serious illness and injury. For more information, visit http://www.lpch.org.

About Stanford Hospital

Stanford Hospital & Clinics is a university-owned, non-profit corporation known for advanced patient care. The 613-bed hospital in Northern California consistently ranks among the top in the nation in surveys by consumers and health professionals. Stanford Hospital & Clinics, in cooperation with the Stanford University Medical School, has pioneered medical advances that save lives and protect against disease. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.stanfordhospital.com.

Source: Business Wire

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