Tijuana – The largest group of health-care workers in Baja California vowed to go on strike beginning Tuesday, accusing the state government of not meeting its demands.

The group is made up of 3,400 employees who work for the state, around 2,000 of them in Tijuana. They are represented by the national union of public health care workers, whose leaders already halted work for 36 hours last Tuesday and Wednesday across the state to press their case.

María Elia Cabañas, who leads the Tijuana chapter of the union, said a strike would have a much greater impact than last week's stoppage.

Around 2,000 of the workers, who formerly worked on a contract basis, some for up to 15 years, want their seniority recognized by the state now that they have joined the union. The demands also include payment for overtime and additional pay for working in high-risk activities.

"We are asking for better work conditions and better benefits," said Cabañas.

"It hurts us to reach this point, to protest publicly and stop health services for our patients … But we feel the government undervalues our work," Cabañas added.

The state provides a wide range of health care services to nearly 2 million people in the state, a million of those in Tijuana. The workers include nurses, paramedics, technicians and administrative and other support staff. They provide primary and specialized care in a network of public hospitals, health centers and clinics.

The head of the state health agency, José Guadalupe Bustamante, said in a statement that he had met union representatives to hear their demands, however, some of those petitions needed to be negotiated between the national union and the federal government.

According to Cabañas, the union set a deadline of Tuesday morning for the state government to respond. If the union deems the response inadequate, she said, the workers would stop providing all health care, only staffing emergency rooms.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com