Recently many University of California facilities have ramped up their use of outside contractors to perform work normally done by career UC employees, according to a blog on the Sacramento Bee website by Kathryn Lybarger, president of AFSCME Local 3299.
At UC Davis Medical Center and UC San Francisco, UC spent nearly $4 million on just two outside contracts for custodial work since 2011. The owners of the two contractors pay nearly 100 employees as little as $10.74 to $15 an hour with no benefits and no voice on the job, according to Lybarger.
"Had the UC system simply brought these subcontracted employees in-house and provided them with the same living wages and secure benefits as other UC workers, it would have saved almost $1 million," she said.
Many UC medical facilities are understaffed, leading to safety deficiencies that have led to millions of dollars in government fines and contributed to a 20 percent spike in injury rates among UC service workers since 2009, according to the blog.
Seeking Standards for Microbial Loads in Healthcare Facilities
UCR Health Unveils Plans for Major Expansion
High-Performance Windows Support Safety at UW Medicine's New Behavioral Health Center
Central Maine Healthcare Dealing with IT System Outage
Kaiser Permanente Opens Newly Expanded Everett Medical Center