Hospital Housekeepers Protest Job Outsourcing

Environmental services (EVS) staff at an Oregon hospital held a two-day strike this week to protest a plan to outsource their jobs, according to The Lund Report.

The EVS workers at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield, Oregon, joined certified nursing assistants, MRI technicians, respiratory therapists, and pharmacy technicians in protesting a lack of progress on union contract negotiations and a move by the hospital to outsource about 100 dietary, housekeeping, and linen jobs to a Texas-based staffing company. The workers, who are members of Service Employees International Union Local 49, say the hospital has failed to negotiate fairly over the outsourcing and a new contract to replace the one that expired September 1. Workers are seeking higher wages, better staffing, and COVID-19 protections

Hospital spokesperson Jana Waterman said McKenzie-Willamette is negotiating on the outsourcing and contract in good faith. She said that 56 of the housekeeping and dietary employees to be outsourced will be offered employment by the staffing firm.

Striking workers say they assumed McKenzie-Willamette was pursuing the outsourcing to save money. But they can’t be sure because the hospital hasn’t told the union about the pay or benefits the staffing firm is offering.

Many of the striking workers are among the lowest paid at the hospital. These include EVS workers, who are paid between US $15-$22 per hour.