Union members call for better deal from Sunrise

Grace Leong

Wednesday, June 25, 2003 | 11:17 a.m.

More than 400 members of the Service Employees International Union Local 1107 and union supporters rallied Tuesday at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center to spotlight the SEIU's efforts to negotiate for better wage and benefit terms in a new contract.

SEIU Local 1107, which represents about 2,400 healthcare workers including nurses, technicians, housekeepers and clerical workers at Sunrise Hospital, said its three-year contract with the hospital expires June 30 and negotiations for a new contract began in mid-March.

"The main purpose of the rally is to bring attention that our contract expires June 30. We want to gain a contract that encourages appropriate staffing and equitable workloads, and provides better wages and benefits to improve the level of patient care delivered at Sunrise," said John August, deputy director of the healthcare division for the SEIU's International Union in Washington, D.C.

"There's a high turnover rate, about 24 percent annually, at Sunrise because working conditions, wages and benefits aren't adequate to keep workers there," he said. "The market rate for registered nurses is in the mid-$30 an hour range. Currently, the top pay for registered nurses at Sunrise is $28 an hour."

"There's a nursing labor shortage in this town and new hospitals will be opening soon. Unless there are better wages and benefits standards, better workers aren't going to come here," he said.

The SEIU represents more than 12,000 workers in Clark County, including more than 7,000 health care workers at University Medical Center, Desert Springs, Valley and Sunrise Hospitals and the Clark County Health District. Cheryl Smith, Sunrise Hospital's spokeswoman, declined to discuss the contract negotiations.

"Both parties have agreed on several bargaining dates throughout the month of July. We expect to have a signed contract in place very soon," she said.