Workers Strike For 2 Days At Rohnert Park, Bay Area Dialysis Clinics

ROHNERT PARK, CA — Tuesday was day two of a strike by more than 500 dialysis caregivers over what they say are unfair labor practices at their clinics, including in Rohnert Park.

Workers rallied at Satellite Healthcare Rohnert Park, 6265 Commerce Blvd., between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tuesday, the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West union said in a news release.

Since Monday, workers at nearly two dozen Satellite Healthcare and Fresenius Kidney Care clinics across California, including locations in Vallejo, Antioch and San Francisco, rallied against management practices that union members allege are putting staff and patients at risk to increase profits while violating workers' rights.

Ninety-nine percent of the workers voted in favor of the strike as Fresenius Kidney Care and Satellite Healthcare refused to bargain in good faith, the union said.

The participants included registered nurses, patient care technicians, social workers, hemodialysis technicians and other caregivers who provide weekly dialysis treatments at the clinics. The strike also applied to licensed vocational nurses, dietitians, clinical administrative coordinators and receptionists.

According to the union, management from both corporations have violated U.S. labor law by threatening and intimidating caregivers, firing workers for trying to form a union and speaking out to improve patient care, making unilateral changes to working conditions without negotiating and failing to bargain in good faith in contract negotiations.

"Fresenius Medical Care made nearly $710 million in profits and paid its CEO approximately $5 million in compensation in 2022," the union said. "Satellite Healthcare made $16.7 million in profits and paid its CEO $1.5 million in compensation in 2021. In contrast, many dialysis caregivers make as little as $17 an hour and routinely hold two or more jobs to make ends meet."

Manny Gonzalez, a certified hemodialysis technician at a Fresenius clinic in Fontana, voted in favor of the strike.

“We spend more time with our patients and coworkers than our own families, and they know we are chronically understaffed and underpaid," Gonzalez said. "Fresenius is trying to keep us silent because they’re afraid of us standing together, and they know that our patients are supporting us in this fight."

The dialysis caregivers are joined by nearly 100,000 other health care workers also voting to authorize strikes across other health care corporations in California this fall, the union said.

Patch reached out to Fresenius Medical Care and Satellite Healthcare and did not receive a response by publication time.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.