Planned Parenthood workers call for better pay at city-wide picket

Frustrated by a lack of progress on bargaining with management for a new contract, the union representing over 160 frontline healthcare workers at Planned Parenthood in the greater New York City area voted last week to conduct a lunchtime picket line outside five offices across the city and Long Island on Aug. 11. 

The workers, who include nurses, midwives, patient care associates (PCAs), physician assistants, sonographers and administrative staff, say the nonprofit’s proposed pay package would “strip away” gains won by the union since they organized under Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union in 2019.

The union negotiated its first contract in 2020, followed by another in 2023. 

Negotiations between the workers and the local chapter of Planned Parenthood—the largest provider of abortions, reproductive healthcare and sexual education in the country—have stalled over the pay discussion. 

“We feel like there's been very little movement,” a Natalie Mitiguy, a PCA and member of the union’s bargaining committee told The Chief at the Aug. 11 picket outside of Planned Parenthood's Brooklyn office.

A representative for Planned Parenthood did not respond to a request for comment.

Cindy Prado, left, and Natalie Mitiguy, patient care associates at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, are among 160 frontline healthcare workers working towards a new contract with the massive nonprofit.

Brennan LaBrie/ The Chief

Management has proposed a one percent raise over the course of the next three-year contract, according to the union, which midwife Lily Dalke called “insulting." This increase would be insufficient to keep up with cost-of-living increases, especially for the union’s lowest-paid workers, Dalke argued.

Most PCAs start at $26 an hour at Planned Parenthood, but some, like drivers of mobile health center units and material management specialists, start at $23, according to Mitiguy.

The hourly salary needed to meet basic needs in New York City for a single worker with no children, according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, is $31.50. Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports prices in the New York metro area were up 4.1 percent in June 2026 from the previous year. If this increase were to hold steady over the next three years, a five percent increase would just barely keep Planned Parenthood’s entry-level staff in line with cost of living.

The workers’ request for a five percent raise is not unprecedented—the union secured consecutive raises of seven percent, six percent and five percent over its previous three-year contract, Dalke said. 

“I’m concerned for myself, but I'm also concerned for my colleagues because most of them are working-class women of color who are often supporting their families on a single income and often have children,” Dalke said. “I also want to see people be able to continue to stay in the work and stay with the organization.

While the healthcare workers continue bargaining for their new contract, doctors at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York are working towards their first contract after forming a separate bargaining unit with Local 1199 in February 2025, according to the union’s spokesperson. 

'We need to be taken care of'

A dispute over raises is the key issue stalling bargaining, workers said.

Brennan LaBrie/ The Chief

Both Dalke and Mitiguy said they’ve seen coworkers leave Planned Parenthood to pursue higher-paying work, often in hospitals.

However, they said their colleagues largely express a desire to stay at Planned Parenthood due to their belief in the work they do, which includes providing abortions, birth control, pregnancy planning and testing, STD testing and treatment, HIV services, gender affirming care, and vaccinations.

“The employees of Planned Parenthood are very passionate and very committed to the mission of the organization. We want to do a good job. We want to show up for our patients. We want to be able to provide these services. But in order to do that in full, we need to be taken care of as well,” Dalke said. “Nobody can give from an empty cup.”

The union is also pushing back on other proposals from management, which include lowering the grace period for late clock-ins from 15 minutes to two minutes, and requests for staff to commute to Planned Parenthood’s offices in Hempstead and Massapequa. Many Planned Parenthood employees take the subway to work, and mandating regular commutes to Long Island is “unreasonable” Dalke said.