Sutter Health psychiatric hospital workers hold one-day strike to call for higher wages, staffing increases

Workers with Sutter Health’s psychiatric hospital are calling on the company to agree to their contract proposals and expedite the bargaining process. 

Dozens of members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, including therapists, social workers, kitchen and janitorial staff, went on a one-day strike outside the Sutter Center for Psychiatry on Folsom Boulevard near Power Inn Road Wednesday.

The group is bargaining for better wages and more hazard pay, among other requests. They also say the center, which looks after children and adults with acute mental health needs, is understaffed and has seen patient and worker injuries.

“Our frontline staff are with the patients 24/7. They're really getting a lot of physical strain,” said César Mardones, a licensed clinical social worker. Mardones added he keeps multiple jobs to be able to live in Sacramento and is having to pay $500 a month again now that student loan payments have restarted. 

Workers unionized with the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) pickets outside of the Sutter Center for Psychiatry in Sacramento on Dec. 6, 2023.Kate Wolffe / CapRadio

According to NUHW, Sutter is offering to increase annual salaries by 2.25%, a proposal the union doesn’t believe keeps up with rising prices. 

Workers at the center unionized in November 2021. The two sides have been in negotiations for a first contract since April 2022, over 580 days. According to an analysis by Bloomberg Law, it generally takes an average of 528 days for health care unions to come to their initial collective bargaining agreement with their employer. 

Mardones said it’s been frustrating to be in those negotiations. 

“Sutter's not really negotiating with us,” he said. “Every time we bring something to the table, they say they have to go talk to other people who are not at the table which kind of defeats the purpose of a bargaining table.”

City Council members Katie Valenzuela and Eric Guerra spoke at a rally for the picketers. Valenzuela said she attended a bargaining session and is “outraged” at how the union is being treated.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that one of the largest healthcare companies in our region, who is not poor, who can afford it, is refusing to take care of people who are taking care of those who frankly need us the most,” she said. 

In an emailed statement, a Sutter spokesperson said the company is “disappointed that the union is choosing to strike, especially as we continue to bargain in good faith and have reached agreements on multiple topics.” 

They added the company is “firmly committed to staffing appropriately based on our patient volume and acuity,” and that staff are trained on workplace violence and injury prevention.   

Sacramento State nursing students high-five workers striking outside of the Sutter Center for Psychiatry on Dec. 6, 2023.Kate Wolffe / CapRadio

However, both Mardones and his colleague Sarishma Lal say insufficient staffing at the center has had ripple effects for their work. The two are social workers at the Sutter Medical Center Sacramento. They assess patients who come in for involuntary psychiatric holds, or 5150s, and decide whether they should be sent to the psychiatric hospital for in-patient treatment. 

Lal said there have been delays with transferring patients, many of whom are presenting with more serious cases of mental illness, from the emergency department over to the psychiatric center because there’s not enough staff to accept them. 

“It just backs up the emergency rooms with psychiatric patients, which then in turn backs up for medical patients that come in for crises,” she said. 

No further strike actions are planned at this time.

Editor's Note: Sutter Health is a major donor to CapRadio.