(OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA) - In a resounding victory for reproductive rights and Worker Power, more than 400 Front-Line Health Care Workers have secured their Union as Planned Parenthood Mar Monte Workers United (PPMMWU).

The victory has drawn strong support from broader Labor and Civil Rights Communities, who view the organizing of Health Care Workers as a vital front-line defense for marginalized populations.

“Our Union gives us the collective power to negotiate our first Collective Bargaining Agreement, focusing on securing the staffing, resources and wages necessary to sustain our vital work into the future,” said Isabel Elias, a Clinician and Member of the Union’s Organizing Committee at the Capitol Plaza Clinic in Sacramento. 

“As the Chief Elected Officer at SEIU Local (521), I am proud to welcome over (400) Planned Parenthood workers to our union,” Riko Mendez said. “These courageous Front-Line Health Care Advocates - primarily Women and People of Color - have sent a powerful message about dignity, equity and ‘having a real voice at work’ and to organize in service of patients and community. We recognize Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s executive leadership for respecting Workers’ Rights and maintaining a fair, non-interfering election process. Together, we look forward to building workplaces that strengthen Workers, protect patients and supports the communities they serve.”

This Union win comes at a critical moment for reproductive health care, as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs access to mail-order mifepristone and the Trump Administration pushes to eliminate or severely restrict Medicaid reimbursements.

The newly-Unionized workforce aims to leverage its collective bargaining power to advocate and protect essential health care amid nationwide attacks on reproductive freedom.

 “Securing our Union secures decisions about our work like staffing, resources and ensuring a sustainable level of care our patients depend on,” said Ryah Issa, a Health Services Specialist at the Planned Parenthood San Jose Clinic. “While Courts and politicians continue to police our work, our Union gives us the power to defend clinical integrity and guarantees our patients receive the comprehensive care we all deserve. Many Workers are patients in our clinics, too.”

Workers say that Union Election wins are directly linked to tangible improvements in pay, safe staffing levels, and robust improvements to workplace conditions - factors that are directly correlated with high-quality patient outcomes.

Workers will join thousands of Planned Parenthood Employees nationally who successfully organized their Union.

As a result of the super-majority Union vote approval, the Workers are urging Planned Parenthood Mar Monte to voluntarily recognize the Union and allow for the beginning of contract negotiations. 

To Directly Access This Organizing Labor News Story, Go To: Workers at Planned Parenthood’s Largest Healthcare Affiliate Vote as Supermajority to Form Union With SEIU Local 521, Includes Clinics from Bakersfield to Oakland, Reno, NV to Sacramento, and Fresno to San Jose – SEIU Local 521