FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
March 7, 2025

WATSONVILLE, Calif. – Nearly 200 frontline healthcare workers who are part of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) at Watsonville Community Hospital have reached a tentative contract agreement with hospital executives that they believe will improve working conditions and patient care. The new agreement will help ensure valued healthcare workers have access to affordable healthcare for themselves and their families as they continue to provide quality care to our community. The tentative agreement also provides raises of nine percent over three years and some special adjustments in the first two years to help close the gap on pay between the frontline workers at this hospital and other area hospitals.

“This is more than a job for us,” said Chris Gil, an 11-year veteran surgical technologist at Watsonville Community Hospital. “I was born here, most of us get our care here. We bring our families to this hospital. We want to make sure we can keep providing quality care to the community, and this new agreement will go a long way to helping ensure that.”

For years, these frontline workers have advocated for the hospital, including helping pass Measure N last year, which increased local property taxes to allow the district to purchase the land the hospital sits on, saving millions in rent annually.

“A lot of healthcare workers have been leaving our hospital after just a few years, looking for better pay and benefits,” said Emily Tiongson, a 23-year lead clinical lab scientist. “This new agreement will help us keep our experienced caregivers so we can focus on our patients and ensure quality healthcare for our community.”

Watsonville frontline healthcare workers will vote on whether to approve the tentative agreement on March 11, 2025.

The new tentative agreement will cover various job classes, including patient care partners, clinical laboratory specialists, pharmacy technicians, surgical technologists, patient transporters, radiology clerks, emergency room technicians, food service workers, lab technicians, environmental services aides, and numerous other frontline healthcare workers.

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 SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 110,000 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.