USC Health Care Workers Say They Are Pushed to the Brink of a Strike

The Keck Medical Center of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Photo: Jamie Pham/Alamy.

For years, workers at Keck Medicine of USC watched as wages and benefits at other top Los Angeles health systems crept ahead of what they were receiving. The workers in the various health systems were dealing with the same external factors, like skyrocketing L.A.-area rents, staffing shortages and inflation. But USC’s employees were falling behind.

“When I first started at USC, for me personally, it was a good environment,” said Elaine Williams, a patient care technician (PCT) at Keck Hospital for four years. “There was still a shortage of nurses and PCTs and such, but we made it work. Since then, though, it’s gotten worse.”