Update:
On Dec. 10, our SEIU-UHW Executive Board voted to continue our efforts in support of the engineers’ fight for a fair contract by:
- Contributing $300,000 to the IUOE Stationary Engineers Local 39 strike fund from our general fund (line item: Solidarity Donations), with the intention that it support our Kaiser engineers;
- Publicly raising awareness of the importance of the engineers to the care team and quality patient care;
- Sounding the alarm over unresolved problems with medical equipment and hospital facilities that Kaiser’s replacement engineers are failing to address;
- Organizing actions in facilities to share these concerns;
- Mobilizing political support; and
- Potentially doing an additional sympathy strike in the future.
On November 18, we were all part of the largest sympathy strike in the United States in over a century. 40,000 Kaiser union members from SEIU-UHW, OPEIU Local 29, IFPTE Local 20 were the largest group of working people since 1894 to say we care enough about another group of workers to leave our job, give up pay and take a stand with the Local 39 Operating Engineers.
This is quite remarkable but not at all surprising. As healthcare workers, we have dedicated our lives to caring for others. We have risked our lives and health these past two years to care for patients during the pandemic. After seeing our co-workers, Kaiser engineers out on strike for 62 days, we said enough is enough. We joined them on the line with courage and honor in a moment that will define us for decades to come.
News Coverage
Sacramento Bee
Kaiser strike in Northern California: Engineers uplifted as thousands picket in solidarity
November 18, 2021
Features quote from UHW members Lanette Griffin, Rod Thomson, Adwin Chand (video)
Mercury News
Kaiser strike shutters some services Thursday. Friday could be worse
KQED
Thousands of Kaiser Permanente Staff Join Picket Line in Solidarity With Striking Engineers
San Francisco Chronicle
Kaiser union employees to hold sympathy strikes Thursday, Friday in solidarity with Local 39
Fox 40 Sacramento
Kaiser union employees engage in sympathy strike in support of local engineers
November 18, 2021
Includes quote from UHW member Kim Samuels of Kaiser So. Sacramento, footage of So. Sacramento sympathy strike
View the historic moment on Social Media
“Workers at the @PLH_Hospital in Orange County say they’re fed up with continual understaffing and outsourcing of care while receiving an unlivable salary.” Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3zA9KbN?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=seiu_uhw&utm_content=e5dfc44b-1dd4-4c79-8678-cc4aadcc6655 #United4All #HealthcareJustice #CommunityBuiltOnCare
We are proud to stand in solidarity with Starbucks workers across the country as they fight for better working conditions. If you’re in the area, show them some support and join a picket line! ✊🏼 @SBWorkersUnited #RedCupRebellion
Red Cup Rebellion striking stores! #redcuprebellion
Healthcare workers at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital have been pushed to their limit by Dignity Health. They are demanding increased staffing, better access to PPE, and improved workers and patient safety at their hospital. @DignityHealth
https://bit.ly/3TvN4kh
St. Elizabeth Community Hospital workers stand up against working conditions threatening their safety and patient care. Dignity Health is making it difficult to do their job despite what they’ve been through these last 2.5 years. @DignityHealth
https://bit.ly/3G6WMGz
The healthcare staffing crisis is hurting patient care. What are you seeing at your workplace? https://cbsn.ws/3gQtfqg
#FairWages4Health
#United4All
“If we really want to support healthcare workers for their sacrifices and help fix the healthcare staffing crisis that threatens patient care, then Inglewood voters need to vote YES on Measure HC in this election.” — Asm. Tina McKinnor
#FairWages4Health
https://bit.ly/3fgwQNR
Thank you @SupChaffee4 for standing with #healthcareworkers and patients @PLH_Hospital !
✊ 🏥 I stand with healthcare workers at @PLH_Hospital who are fighting for fair wages. Caregivers who sacrificed through the #COVID19 pandemic at are being displaced as low pay, historic inflation & the rising cost of living are forcing them out of their careers and communities
Thank you @JoshNewmanCA for standing with healthcare workers at Placentia Linda! ✊ https://twitter.com/JoshNewmanCA/status/1584992546383880194
I am proud to stand with Placentia Linda Hospital workers today as they advocate for just wages & fair treatment. #FairWages4Health https://twitter.com/seiu_uhw/status/1582144655097200640
“If the hospital was providing me more money, I wouldn’t leave. I like this hospital. I know this hospital like the back of my hand.” — Victor, an ER Tech at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood.
Support Measure HC in Inglewood.
https://lat.ms/3TTQJZJ
#FairWages4Health
Here’s how raising the minimum wage for healthcare workers helps all of us:
• It helps retain workers who are considering leaving and recruit new ones
• It helps ensures our workplaces are fully staffed, which improves patient care
#FairWages4Health
Congresswoman Maxine Waters supports Inglewood Measure HC to set a $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers in the city of Inglewood.
#FairWages4Health
https://bit.ly/3CT9Ps0
Who's spending millions to deny higher pay for healthcare workers? Big healthcare corporations have put millions of dollars into opposing higher pay for California healthcare workers.
Reactions?
#FairWages4Health
The actions LA City Council members of Nury Martinez, Kevin de León, and Gil Cedillo, as well as Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera are both painful to hear and disgraceful. These are not the values of the labor movement. https://seiuca.org/press-releases/2022/10/10/statement-of-seiu-leaders-on-los-angeles-city-leadership-failure/
The healthcare champions that @seiu_uhw union members helped elect to office passed a tax refund coming to most families on OCT. 7!
Depending on your income and dependents, you will likely receive $200 to $1,050 in a refund from the state.
More info: http://taxrefund.ca.gov.
Californians are getting $$ starting TOMORROW! 💵
Those eligible will receive up to $1,050 to help with rising costs from groceries to gas.
23 million Californians will benefit from this $9.5 billion tax refund.
See how much you’ll get: http://taxrefund.ca.gov
Hey @ladailynews going after frontline healthcare workers in your endorsement today - that's low. @seiu_uhw members continue to sacrifice themselves through the pandemic for all angelenos. [1/2]
AB 2849, our bill to further the understanding of #workerowned co-ops in CA, was just signed by @CAgovernor! TY to @AsmMiaBonta for authoring this important 1st step towards empowering workers! #CALeg
Gov. @GavinNewsom signed #AB2183, which gives California's agricultural workers greater opportunity to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.
✊Sí, se puede @UFWUpdates
Gov. Newsom has signed #AB2183.
Sí, se puede.
I stand with healthcare workers today and every day. 💜 They have shown tremendous sacrifice and commitment to our community. I support @seiu_uhw workers at La Casa who are organizing to fight for #fairwages4health.
2
It is morally wrong that millions of people in this country work 40+ hours a week, sometimes significantly more, and still can't afford basic living expenses. Everyone deserves a living wage.
.@SeiuCCWU community clinic workers came out in full force to stand with @UFWupdates in support of #AB2183. Farmworkers should be allowed to vote to unionize in a safe space, free from intimidation by employers.
3This is the “unequal pay” hospital executives never want you to see. We need to invest in the healthcare workers that keep our communities safe. A $25/hr healthcare worker minimum wage is just the start to raise wages from the bottom up. https://bit.ly/3RdgYc0 #FairWages4Health
Today I’m calling on the Biden admin to open a federal investigation of health care giant @HCAhealthcare for bilking Medicare and possibly fleecing taxpayers out of nearly $2 billion.
3Our patients deserve quality patient care and safe staffing. #FairWages4Health #United4All https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1vAxRAnjZRaJl
This is thanks to the work we & other SEIU locals have done as part of @SeiuCCWU to support the essential workers in California’s Community Clinics. We are thrilled these hardworking frontline clinic workers will get a much needed bonus to help fight the staffing shortage crisis
We're expanding retention bonuses for healthcare workers! Some 70k workers who support Californians on Medi-Cal or those without insurance will receive $1,000.
Thank you to our frontline heroes who continue to keep people safe and healthy.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article265053469.html
¡Juntos Podemos!
3Healthcare workers joined @UFWupdates today as they took their final steps of a 24-day march for the Governor’s signature on #AB2183.
HCA’s chronic short staffing is burning out hospital workers and undermining patient care. #PatientsOverProfits
https://bit.ly/3zRmGJJ
@AsmMuratsuchi thank you for meeting with us to discuss healthcare worker challenges. Your support is invaluable.
#FairWages4Health
Members met with CA Assembly Speaker @Rendon63rd’s staff to talk about what healthcare workers have been through the past few years and why we need a statewide healthcare worker min wage. #FairWages4Health
Senator Rendon staff member on #fairwages4Health@seiu-uhw
My team of healthcare leaders doing everything we can to educate CA Lawmakers on how little some of our colleagues make taking care of the most vulnerable members of our society. @seiu_uhw #fairwages4health
4After nearly three years of the pandemic, caregivers are exhausted, many leaving the industry over low pay and understaffing. @LifeLongMedCare , caregivers are fighting for safer staffing, better patient care, benefits and pay that keep qualified caregivers in our community.
2SEIU-UHW members worked with Community Clinic Workers United members last Thursday providing care for the @UFWupdates marchers in Modesto. We stand with farm workers in their fight for Justice.
3$17/hora no es un salario digno, sin embargo, el aumento al salario mínimo se frenó en Los Ángeles. Obtenga más información sobre cómo esto está afectando a los trabajadores de la salud. #FairWages4Health #CALeg
https://bit.ly/3Pq2R1T
Analysis of Medicare data by SEIU indicates that HCA’s practice of over admitting patients may have brought the company nearly $2 billion in excess Medicare payments since 2008. #PatientsOverProfits
https://bit.ly/3px9vcp
"HCA has potentially been engaging in widespread Medicare fraud through the systematic over-admittance of patients from Emergency Departments at HCA hospitals—a practice that may have continued throughout the pandemic." #PatientsOverProfits
https://bit.ly/3JMUpsp?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=seiu_uhw&utm_content=3d6f43a8-fd40-4afa-9f3f-197e6684849c
Quick update on the #FairWages4Health campaign. https://twitter.com/AlpertReyes/status/1557500699482566656
Some cities are leading the way in raising the minimum wage for healthcare workers. Meanwhile, employers are refusing grants that would give their healthcare employees fair compensation. #FairWages4Health
https://bit.ly/3JCOTZo
A recent survey of roughly 5,000 frontline healthcare workers finds that more than two years of dealing with the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic is causing profound negative impacts on workers’ mental health. Download the report: https://www.seiu-uhw.org/mha/
A recent survey of frontline healthcare workers found that 2+ years of the COVID-19 pandemic is causing profound negative impacts on workers’ #MentalHealth.
Read more: https://bit.ly/3Q6Pepu
Buckley’s story resonates with a lot of healthcare workers in California too. This is why healthcare workers deserve a fair minimum wage. #FairWages4Health
https://bit.ly/3PhZrOV
"A fair wage will keep more #LongBeach healthcare workers in their jobs and help attract more people to the medical field, relieving us of the dangers and frustration of understaffing.” #FairWages4Health
https://bit.ly/3bz53WU
This week Long Beach became the fourth city in SoCal to move forward with an ordinance to increase the minimum wage to $25 for healthcare workers in the private sector. #FairWages4Health
https://lat.ms/3Q35yrv
Los Angeles and Long Beach have the most expensive rents in the COUNTRY. Yet greedy hospital CEOs want to remove the $25/hr minimum wage for healthcare workers!? #FairWages4Health
As rising interest rates and surging property values prevent more families from buying a home, the demand for rentals has soared. Here are the 5 U.S. metros with most expensive monthly rents: https://cnb.cx/3Q0bv8k
“I’m working hard to follow my calling and serve my community. I have nothing to show for my sacrifices. We as healthcare workers are feeling broken.” #FairWages4Health
https://bit.ly/3SucLlK
Thank you, @LongBeachMayor! ICYMI, the City of Long Beach, is one step away from passing our $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers! #FairWages4Health
2Healthcare corporations have no shame. They’ve been tricking voters into signing their petition to REMOVE the $25/hr healthcare worker minimum by pretending they’re helping those same healthcare workers. #FairWages4Health
https://lat.ms/3d5XCqG
The moment we found out Long Beach City Council voted unanimously to pass the Healthcare Worker $25/hr Minimum Wage! #FairWages4Health
Tonight the Long Beach City Council voted unanimously to pass the Healthcare workers $25 Minimum Wage!! Shout to @seiu_uhw for this incredible worker victory!
Long Beach is the latest of 4 SoCal cities to move forward with establishing a $25 minimum wage for healthcare providers in the private sector https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-04/more-california-cities-are-backing-25-an-hour-minimum-wages-for-these-workers-heres-why
While some states and Congress refuse to increase the inhumane federal $7.25 minimum wage, our city is setting a historic new wage of $25 for healthcare workers. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-04/more-california-cities-are-backing-25-an-hour-minimum-wages-for-these-workers-heres-why
Long Beach is close to joining LA, Downey & Monterey Pk in a $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers. SEIU-UHW members spoke up yesterday & 8/1 to let Councilmembers know LB healthcare workers need #FairWages4Health so we can take care of our families while caring for theirs
CEO’s in LA are trying to cut the wages of healthcare workers. They are tagged in the tweet below. Share your thoughts. https://twitter.com/seiu_uhw/status/1553139125489999874
Hey, @RodHochmanMD @PriselacThomas @raffoulj @CarmelaSCoyle: Why are you lying to LA voters about your petition?
Your petition CUTS WAGES for healthcare workers.
All while you take in MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR salaries.
Watch the ad. Spread the word. Stop their greed.
FYI. Large hospitals are trying to collect signatures for a petition to remove a very necessary wage increase for workers. Don’t sign! (Spotted them at the Crenshaw Mall yesterday) https://twitter.com/seiu_uhw/status/1551603201962643456
Share this post to spread the word. If you see signature gatherers, text us at 323-888-8123. #FairWages4Health
An Open Letter from SEIU-UHW Executive Board Leaders to Our Co-workers and Patients
