By Henni Espinosa
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DUBLIN, CA—It’s 6 in the morning outside the Santa Rita jail in Dublin, California, and healthcare workers have walked off from their jobs. They are holding a one-day strike to demand better wages and benefits.  At least half of the one hundred forty nurses and hospital assistants who went on strike today are Filipino.

The workers say their management, Prison Health Services, did not give them the 10 percent annual increase that was promised them.

“I feel cheated,” said Magdalena Inocencio, a nurse at the jail. “All of us feel cheated. We have families to take care of. We have bills to pay.”

Protesters say management also plans a 25 percent increase in their healthcare payments.  This means that a married worker with children has to pay an extra $3,000 a year for coverage. Michelle Tadeo is a licensed vocational nurse at the jail. She has three kids. “The increase will impact me so much. My entire family depends on my healthcare benefits here,” Tadeo said.

Prison Health Services says it has proposed a minimum, across-the-board pay increase of four percent. Management says it has also offered the workers full healthcare coverage. But the workers say this new plan involves high co-pays.

Protesters say management has also threatened to lock them out when they go back to work tomorrow morning.

“They don’t intimidate us! It actually makes us stronger. Tomorrow, we’re ready to go back to work,” said licensed vocational nurse Joan Fabro.

Prison Health Services would not confirm whether there will be a lockout tomorrow morning or not. While the workers are on strike, management has hired temp workers to ensure patient care among the Santa Rita Jail inmates.

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