Strike Planned At Marin General Hospital

GREENBRAE, CA – A Marin General Hospital spokeswoman responded Wednesday to a strike planned on Friday by hospital engineers and imaging technicians.

Twenty engineers and 65 imaging technicians are striking to protest the hospital's demand that workers pay hundreds of dollars more a month to keep their health plans or accept a lesser plan forcing them to find new doctors, National Union of Healthcare Workers spokesman Matthew Artz
said in a news release.

The engineers, whose contract expires today, are staging an open-ended strike starting Friday.

The imaging technicians' contract expired in October, and they are joining the strike on Friday only, Artz said.

Marin General Hospital spokeswoman Jaime Maites said both unions have contracts with numerous hospitals in the region but none of the contracts include health benefits as generous as Marin General's proposal.

"We are working to reach an agreement with both NUHW AND Local 39 and look forward to achieving a mutually agreeable contract," Maites said.

Marin General Hospital will function without disruption and all departments will be open, Maites said.

Artz said the main stumbling block in negotiations is the hospital's offer of a less comprehensive health plan. Their current plan allows the employees to choose their doctors, but they would have to pay $120 a month to insure themselves or $359 a month to insure their families, Artz said.

Employees could opt for a new HMO plan that would force many employees to find new doctors willing to take the insurance plan, but it doesn't include access to nearby hospitals operated by Kaiser Permanente or Sutter Health. The employees' current plan allows them to use Sutter Health
hospitals, Artz said.

Artz said Marin General Hospital intends to impose the new health care options on all employees when their contracts expire.

Maites said the proposed HMO will be free to eligible employees and their family members with access to UCSF Health, Marin General Hospital, Sonoma Valley Hospital, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and John Muir Health.

"We also are offering a PPO option for those that wish to 'buy up,'" Maites said. "The cost of buying up to the PPO plan will cost our employees less than what employees of other hospitals pay for a PPO," Maites said.

"Most employers, including Marin General's competitors, collect some portion of premium from employees for various levels of plan coverage and charge higher co-pays than we do," Maites said.

The strike at the hospital at 250 Bon Air Road in Greenbrae is 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and it includes a noon rally.

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