OAKLAND, CA — Security officers at Dignity Health/CommonSpirit have voted to improve patient safety and jobs by uniting in SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), a union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers across California. The election took place via mail over the course of three weeks in May, culminating in a vote count on May 31, and covers 518 frontline workers across California — the first hospital security officers to join SEIU-UHW.

“This is a huge win for security officers, healthcare workers, and the communities we serve at Dignity Health,” said Mark McCliss, who works as a security officer at Dignity Folsom. “When security officers can’t provide housing and other basic necessities for our loves ones, we struggle to keep the necessary staff on board to maintain the safest conditions for healthcare workers, patients, and our fellow officers. Now that we’re union, we’ll have a strong voice to ensure adequate staffing levels and keep people safe when they visit a Dignity Health facility.”

The victory was decisive: 84 percent of the workers voting supported joining SEIU-UHW. The vote applies to all full-time and regular part-time Emergency Management Safety Officers, Public Safety Security Officers, Security Officers, and Security Officer Leads employed by Dignity at 40 health facilities across California.

For years, security officers have been at the frontlines of Dignity facilities, working to enforce COVID-19 policies and keep patients and workers safe while struggling with a lack of protective equipment, unsafe staffing levels, and inadequate pandemic safety protocols. Their pay is less than most people in the hospital — some as low as $20/hour — and constant turnover due to these low wages and unsafe conditions makes it dangerous for patients and workers alike.

The win comes after more than 18,000 healthcare workers at Dignity Health ratified their own collective bargaining agreement, which included a pathway to an election with SEIU-UHW for security officers and guaranteed free family healthcare in the officers’ first contract. SEIU-UHW members at Dignity Health are the only employees who have the benefit of fully-paid family healthcare.

“Security officers put their lives on the line as much as any healthcare worker in the hospital,” said Tammy Kibble, a healthcare worker represented by SEIU-UHW at Dignity’s St. Bernardine Medical Center. “They deserve to have a voice on the job to solve the issues they face at work, and to make a living wage and benefits like other workers at Dignity have through our union.”

CommonSpirit/Dignity Health made $5.5 billion in profits in 2021, has received $1.3 billion in federal pandemic relief funds, and pays the company CEO over $16 million a year.

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SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected healthcare workers. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.