(Radio Iowa) – Dozens of workers at six southern Iowa healthcare clinics are asking their employer to respect their right to form a union. The employees work at River Hills Community Health Centers in Ottumwa, Oskaloosa, Keokuk, Centerville, Sigourney and Richland. They’re seeking safer working conditions, better wages and affordable health care. Cassie Dunlavy, a nurse practitioner at the system’s Ottumwa clinic, says patient care is suffering.

“My schedule is the fullest it’s ever been,” she said. “I spent countless hours charting at home, on the weekends and in the evenings just to barely keep up.” Dunlavy says benefits are concern as well. “The health insurance premiums for a family plan at River Hills are nearly a thousand dollars a month,” she said. “That’s difficult for myself to afford as a nurse practitioner, let alone employees working entry level positions here.”

The employees are working with a representative of the Teamsters union. The Teamsters currently represent 50-thousand healthcare workers in the U-S. Teamsters Local 90 has been working with UnityPoint nurses in central Iowa who are trying to form a union for their workplace.