Hospital workers allege retaliation in struggle over outsourcing of union jobs

STOCKTON, CA—In February of this year, the union representing housekeepers, phlebotomists, and maintenance workers at Dameron Hospital in Stockton, California received a notice from hospital management that the 54 members of their bargaining unit were subject to termination. In the midst of bargaining a new contract, workers were now seeing their jobs outsourced to a medical worker staffing agency, Frontline Health Staffing Agency. Now, three months later, workers report that a steady drip of terminations are well underway, leading to decreased morale at the hospital, chaos regarding new hires, and elected officials standing publicly in support of the terminated workers.

"This move is part of a broader trend in healthcare, and the economy overall, where employers are hiring workers as contractors rather than full-time employees to avoid dealing with labor protections and an organized workforce," the union, OPEIU Local 29, said in a statement at the time. "Instead of paying out the healthcare coverage our lowest wage workers and their families deserve, Dameron will be paying staffing fees to Frontline Health."

According to John Culver, business representative at OPEIU Local 29, the sudden move by the hospital administration to outsource union jobs in the midst of a contentious bargaining struggle feels retaliatory. Negotiations have been ongoing since May 2025, and stalled out multiple times due to what the union has called regressive bargaining. According to the union, management-side negotiators offered proposals that were then taken back at further bargaining sessions. The union filed multiple ULPs with the NLRB surrounding this and other issues, with the NLRB finding three to have merit.

"It's not about patient safety. It's not about economics. It's about the fact that they don't want to have to deal with a union, and unfortunately we just happen to be the first union that's opened their contract under this new management," Culver said. "The other bargaining units [at the hospital] are gonna have to deal with the same stuff that we've been dealing with."

The average tenure of employment for workers in this unit is between 15 and 20 years, with one member working at the hospital for over 50. After the outsourcing plan was announced, that member decided to take retirement rather than attempt to find another job at a different hospital.

"Many of these members have worked here their entire life, and they've given quite a bit to the hospital. When COVID came and they were asked to come into work because they were necessary worker status, they did so, and they did so in a pretty dire situation where they were understaffed, and they stuck it out," Culver said. For many, this feels like a betrayal of those sacrifices made during the pandemic.

Many workers are reportedly frustrated by the loss of decades of institutional knowledge in favor of undertrained, underpaid replacements. "There's others that's been there 30 years, some 35 years, you know, 40 years. You know, they just...we know what to do," said Lolita Owens, union housekeeper with 19 years at the hospital. "You know, we know that the nurses, they're all behind us, the different departments, because they know that we know what to do. We know that hospital in and out."

According to reporting from last month by Josie Heart, the concerns over this attempt at union busting is shared by elected officials.

In a press release, Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi expressed support for the union and the workers, emphasizing Dameron Hospital’s long history of care in the community.

She said the city is trying to better understand the proposed changes, but said key information has not been provided by the hospital as requested.

“City officials have worked with staff at Dameron to maintain the property and thus ensure that the 200-bed facility remains open,” Fugazi stated. “When Dameron Hospital asked the city for help, we’ve answered. Now we are asking for a data point, and our request is still unanswered after 15 days. Dameron is running the clock on a labor contract representing workers that have been loyal to the hospital and the community, for over three decades!”

When asked about elected officials taking notice, Culver replied, "I think it's appropriate. It should be a nonpartisan issue. These 54 people that the hospital is looking to outsource are members of the community."

For now, workers are feeling crushed between a rock and a hard place, with remaining workers attempting to train new hires even as they replace their colleagues. Negotiations with the hospital are still ongoing. For Culver, this struggle is a lesson for workers across all industries about the dangers of allowing union protections to be stripped from the workplace, especially as AI continues to gain a foothold.

"We're going to see this in a much greater numbers over the coming years, and I think that one of the things that we need to realize is this is not inevitable," he said. "They're not trying to build tools that will help us work more efficiently. They're trying to develop agents that will replace us. The outcome is not inevitable; people can step up and prevent this from happening, but they've got to do it now while they still can."

Words About Work will stay on this story as it develops.