[Oct. 21, 2019] LOS ANGELES – One-hundred seventy healthcare workers at one of the region’s largest cancer treatment and research centers recently voted to improve their job conditions and patient care by joining SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), a union of 95,000 healthcare workers across California.

Of those City of Hope workers casting ballots, nearly 80 percent voted to join the union. They work in 14 clinics in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

“Having formed a union, we will now have a unified voice when it comes to improving wages and benefits – which reflect the skill and dedication we bring to our patients every day,” said Graciela Camacho, a medical assistant at City of Hope in Glendora, Calif.

The vote applies to more than 18 job classifications, including: licensed vocational nurses; medical assistants; phlebotomists; radiology technicians; nuclear medical technicians; surgery technicians; radiation therapists; receptionists; medical records and billing clerks; coders; and schedulers.

Earlier this year, a separate group of 144 workers at City of Hope Medical Foundation voted to join SEIU-UHW, bringing the total to 857 employees at the company who are members of the union.

City of Hope was founded in 1913, and reported revenue of $2.4 billion in 2018.