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Seven unions coordinate six-state strike, Red Cross responds with lockout
The Red Cross rewarded blood-donation workers with a selective lockout in mid-June following a three-day strike staged across six states.
Seven unions coordinated the strike, in which about 1,200 workers walked out, from California to Connecticut, to protest Red Cross's drastic escalation of health care costs and speedup demands.
"We didn't want to cause a crisis in the blood supply," said Christine Holschlag, president of AFSCME Local 3145 in Connecticut and a full-time phlebotomist. "But we wanted to show we're united and adamant about our union's role in the workplace."
Workers say the production pressure puts the blood supply at risk, by forcing them to work unsafely and creating high turnover that leads to poorly trained staff. The Food and Drug Administration has fined Red Cross $21 million since 2003 over unsafe practices.