Workers at multiple DaVita clinics say understaffing, unsafe working conditions, low wages created a crisis putting patients and workers at risk, say employer is attempting to delay contract negotiations
Workers at multiple DaVita clinics say understaffing, unsafe working conditions, low wages created a crisis putting patients and workers at risk, say employer is attempting to delay contract negotiations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 31, 2024
CALIFORNIA – On the heels of hundreds of dialysis caregivers conducting informational pickets at Fresenius, Satellite, and US Renal last week, caregivers at DaVita Kidney Care will picket July 31 – August 6 at seven clinics across California.
Workers say they need to bring attention to dangerous conditions and bad faith bargaining that put patients in these clinics at increased risk for disruptions in their dialysis care and the company’s use of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) process to delay workers’ union election and delay the start of negotiations.
DaVita spent nearly $7 million on union-busting consultants between 2017 and 2020. Additionally, caregivers at DaVita have filed charges accusing the company of serious labor law violations; the company has already closed down at least one facility where organizing activity occurred.
Chronic short staffing in dialysis care has allowed dialysis corporations to make huge profits as patients’ quality of care declines because there isn’t enough staff to care for them. In 2023, DaVita reported $957 million in profits and paid their CEO $6.7 million in compensation.
SEIU-UHW represents more than 700 dialysis caregivers at DaVita, Fresenius, Satellite Healthcare and U.S. Renal in various job classes, including registered nurses, patient care technicians, licensed vocational nurses, certified clinical hemodialysis technicians, dietitians, social workers, clinical administrative coordinators, and receptionists.
Dialysis, a life-saving medical procedure that is a lifeline for more than 60,000 California residents with kidney failure, filters a patient’s blood and other toxic fluids from the body over the course of several hours at required weekly appointments several times a week. The risk of complications and even death is greatly increased when workers are unable to properly monitor their patients due to understaffing.
###
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.