Voters in the cities of Duarte and Inglewood will decide next month whether to boost the minimum wage to $25 an hour for a range of workers at privately owned hospitals and dialysis clinics.
The wage measures have been championed by the healthcare workers union SEIU-UHW, which has been pushing for a $25 hourly minimum at health facilities in many cities in Los Angeles County. SEIU-UHW leaders have argued that the wage hikes are crucial to retain workers who have felt devalued during the pandemic.
“If the hospital was providing me more money, I wouldn’t leave,” said Victor, an emergency room technician at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood who asked to be identified only by his first name because of concerns about employer retaliation. “I like this hospital. I know this hospital like the back of my hand.”
The Inglewood hospital pays him $21.50 an hour, plus added pay for night shifts, he said. To make ends meet, he said he had been juggling two jobs, sometimes sleeping in his car, and nodding off during T-ball games when his son wasn’t at bat. When another job paying $25 an hour became available, he decided to put in his notice to leave, he said.
“I’d rather help this community,” Victor said. “But I have to take care of myself and my family.”
Union officials hope that local measures could help pave the way for a statewide minimum wage for workers in such facilities. An attempted statewide deal between SEIU-UHW and the California Hospital Assn. collapsed in...
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