Workers announce their intent to unionize as Planned Parenthood Mar Monte Workers United, is driven by an urgent need to protect health care amid national political and funding shifts.
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Ian Newman, Ian.newman@seiu521.org, (516) 983-9839, Elsa Meija, Elsa.Mejia@seiu521.org, (559) 385-6857
Oakland, CA — Joining one of the largest health care unionization drives in recent years, over 400 frontline Clinicians, RNs, and Health Service Specialists working at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte began voting in a union representation election.
Workers say that because such a large portion of their patients rely on federally funded care, even modest shifts in Medicaid reimbursement can place a serious strain on operations.
“Securing our voice in decisions about staffing, resources, and priorities, will ensure a sustainable level of clinical care our patients depend on. Planned Parenthood is often seen as a family planning center, but we provide wrap-around health care to low-income communities, including communities of color, which rely on us for ongoing care” said Selene Soto, a Health Services Specialist, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte Woodland Clinic.
Mar Monte is the organization’s largest affiliate, operating 30 clinics across California, including the Bay Area, Central Valley, and Central Coast and Nevada. The system serves nearly 300,000 patients annually, many of whom rely on Medicaid or other public insurance coverage.
Medicaid reimbursements to providers like Planned Parenthood Mar Monte are being scrutinized and acted on by the Trump administration. Last year, the federal government-imposed restrictions affecting Planned Parenthood’s access to Medicaid reimbursements for a one-year period, disrupting reimbursement streams tied to care. Workers say such policy shifts place additional strain on already complex funding and staffing structures within safety-net healthcare systems. Planned Parenthood workers at affiliates in Oregon, Maine, Minnesota, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and California, have formed unions in response to many of these changes. Workers say union election wins are directly linked to improvements in pay, staffing levels, and workplace conditions.
“Our effort to unionize reflects the immense changes rippling across the healthcare sector, as we want a voice in how care is delivered during a period of rapid political change,” said Isabel Arezu Elias, a Clinician and member of the union’s organizing committee at the Capitol Plaza Clinic. “The structures and protections of a union allow us to focus on our work and collaborate with leadership on our core mission.”
Supporters of the union, including internationally recognized labor leader Dolores Huerta, say workforce stability is directly tied to maintaining robust access to care services.
“Healthcare workers organizing today are carrying forward a long struggle to protect reproductive care facing serious attacks: from efforts to defund Planned Parenthood to broader attempts to weaken essential public health services. When workers stand together, they are not only improving their working conditions, they are defending access to care, dignity, and health for the communities,” said Dolores Huerta.
The election will be conducted from May 11 – May 19.
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Service Employees International Union, Local 521 represents 72,000 public- and nonprofit, private-sector workers in California’s Bay Area, the Central Coast, and in the Central Valley. Under a Community First vision, we are committed to making sure the needs of our community, and the vital services we provide our community, come first. We believe our communities thrive when residents, leaders and workers recognize that we are all in this together when it comes to our safety, health, and well-being.
