By Gina Yarbrough
La Mesa, CA–Hundreds of healthcare workers gathered for a rally at Harry Griffen Park in La Mesa on Labor Day to demand better working conditions and pay, and improve patient care at all San Diego County hospitals.
Organized by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, the rally featured speeches from healthcare professionals, elected officials, and labor leaders who addressed the current challenges faced by workers in California and highlighted the urgent need for improved working conditions, better support systems, and increased investment in the healthcare workforce.
The group says unsafe staffing and being on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers at “wealthy systems” such as Kaiser Permanente, Fresenius Kidney Care, and other corporations, have been dealing with burnout and leaving the industry, leading to significant staffing shortages.
“We are burnt out, stretched thin, and fed up after years of the pandemic and chronic short staffing. Corporate healthcare providers are failing workers and patients, and we are at crisis levels in our hospitals and medical centers. We all suffer when there aren’t enough healthcare workers to provide quality care,” said Tristan Amasa, Licensed Vocational Nurse at Fresenius Kidney Care. “Large healthcare systems like Fresenius Kidney Care and Kaiser Permanente take in billions of dollars in profits, yet they refuse to safely staff their facilities or pay many of their workers a living wage. We are standing up for our patients and our communities so they can get the quality healthcare care they deserve.”
Healthcare workers in Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Diego held simultaneous Labor Day demonstrations. Dozens of healthcare workers were arrested in a civil disobedience action in front of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hollywood after a Labor Day rally and march. Healthcare workers were calling for Kaiser Permanente, Prime Healthcare, Fresenius Kidney Care, and healthcare providers across the state to act urgently to address the patient care crisis caused by understaffed hospitals and clinics.
The Labor Day unrest follows weeks of mounting tensions between healthcare workers and executives at Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S. Kaiser’s 85,000 healthcare workers recently kicked off a strike authorization vote over unfair labor practices, including Kaiser’s bad faith bargaining, which comes amidst workers’ simmering concerns over unsafe staffing levels. It would be the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history.
Kaiser Permanente issued a statement on its website about healthcare workers’ concerns about working conditions and patient care:
“We understand the current labor environment across the country, and what it means for workers, organized labor, and organizations, like Kaiser Permanente, who are committed to improving the economic health of our people and our society.
We also understand the impact the pandemic has had on our employees and physicians, from the front lines of health care to the teams that work with and support them. We have been on this journey together over the past 3 years, acknowledging our employees’ dedication and providing them with benefits that few other employers offered. We took extraordinary steps to support and protect our workforce and their families, and to support their mental as well as physical health.”
Kaiser says it remains committed to bargaining with the Coalition unions in good faith and in the “spirit of partnership,” working together to address the many complex issues at both local and national bargaining tables.
“We are confident that we will reach an agreement that achieves this goal before the national agreement expires on September 30,” Kaiser said on their website.
