NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The LCMC Health team announced that they will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour for over 400 employees starting April 5. Step Up Louisiana, an organization advocating for LCMC workers, released the following statement to address the power of organizing and call attention to the fight ahead for nurses:
Statements from Healthcare Workers and Step Up Members
“As nurses, we know that our work is made possible by a large network of hardworking, care professionals. From cafeteria workers to physical therapists, the person who checks you at the ER and the people who keep our hospitals clean and sanitary,” said Mike Robertshaw, RN and community organizer and former UMC LCMC nurse organizing with National Nurses United. “We celebrated with all those workers this week as they won a $15 dollar per hour minimum wage as a direct result of them beginning to organize a union. In our own struggle for a first contract with LCMC, nurses understand that the hospital will keep every last dime of profit for their shareholders unless we organize and demand better for our families.”
“I’m excited to see the hard work of organizing pay off! What does this mean for workers at LCMC? A step in the right direction. I hope it means we continue to unite and organize together for better conditions for all of us,” said Hannah Miller, UMC LCMC nurse who organizes with National Nurses United. “Make no mistake, LCMC did not do this because they are loving and generous. It was a calculated and strategic move, because they felt the pressure! Because of organizing, a 30 percent increase to $15 per hour just shows you how very low the wages are! But when we come together and UNITE, we can make CHANGE!”
“May I thank you [Step Up Louisiana]. People really needed that raise, so keep fighting for us okay,” said an anonymous worker, a tech at UMC LCMC. “ Sometimes I get 25-30 patients by myself. People [patients] are sick and they need love. We get people who can’t take care of themselves. Some people make like $11/hour, and I make $13/hour. We work hard and I took this job to help people, but people keep quitting and it’s hard to keep people because of the pay. I have seen about five people leave in the few months I have been there. Y’all [Step Up Louisiana] are doing something positive and we have to stick together.”
From rallies to picket lines, Step Up Louisiana has stood behind UMC healthcare workers. This wage increase comes as nurses with LCMC Health have been organizing since March of 2023 and qualified RNs continue to voice their concerns and leave their positions due to chronic understaffing and poor working conditions.
Workers are unclear who is all covered by the raise that is said to go into effect on April 5th. Questions remain if part time workers or contracted workers will also see the raise.
This announcement also follows a major win for New Orleans workers in November 2025, when over 80 percent of voters approved the New Orleans Home Rule charter for the Workers’ Bill of Rights. The WBOR affirms peoples’ right to a fair, living wage, with a minimum of $15 an hour for workers, alongside the right to paid leave, healthcare access, and the right to organize.
Step Up notes that Louisiana’s laws align with the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which hasn’t changed since 2009.
