Finally the doctors and the white collar professionals are getting the
message.
Carl Jarvis
On 12/10/20, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Washington doctors, health care workers strike for patient safety
https://themilitant.com/2020/12/05/washington-doctors-health-care-workers-strike-for-patient-safety/
BY EDWIN FRUIT
Vol. 84/No. 49
December 14, 2020
TACOMA, Wash. — Members of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists
conducted a strike here Nov. 23-24 at Tacoma General Hospital and area
clinics run by MultiCare Indigo Urgent Care.
The UAPD, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees, won a union election in 2019 and is still
bargaining for its first contract. The union represents doctors,
dentists, physician assistants and nurse practitioners at some 20 urgent
care facilities in the Puget Sound area.
“As doctors we are not trained in the direction of thinking about
needing a labor union,” Dr. Brian Fox told the Militant Nov. 24 on the
picket line at MultiCare Indigo in Burien. “What led us to strike is the
safety of our patients and of the staff, which is endangered by the
extended shifts we work without breaks and by the lack of personal
protective equipment.
“The public has been very supportive,” he said. “Our patients offer to
bring us masks. Our two-day strike is intended to get the company’s
attention and to bring them back to the table for negotiations.”
“After a two-year fight for recognition of our union and one year of
bargaining for a first contract,” the Union of American Physicians and
Dentists bargaining team said in a letter to MultiCare, it has become
clear to us that “management has not taken our concerns as providers
seriously, especially when it comes to the most important issue: patient
safety.”
“MultiCare is closing down a number of its clinics and laying off health
care workers in the middle of a pandemic,” Dr. Jocelyn Devita said on
the picket line in Tacoma. “As the company becomes more corporatized,
profits are their main concern.
“Doctors are considered ‘exempt’ employees from labor standards because
they are salaried,” she said. “We can’t take a rest break or even a
lunch break and may see as many as 70 patients a day. And you have to
stay until the last patient is seen, sometimes resulting in more than
12-hour days.”
“Even though N95 masks are available, the company won’t let doctors or
staff wear them,” union organizer Gabrielle Hanley said. “The company
claims these masks ‘scare’ patients, so doctors shouldn’t use them.”
Workers from the Washington State Nurses Association, the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union, Firefighters and Teamsters union, as well
as from Walmart, joined the picket lines in solidarity.
Help the Militant cover labor struggles around the world!
This column is dedicated to spreading the truth about workers’ struggles
for a union movement in every workplace today. It gives a voice to those
engaged in battle and helps build solidarity. We need your help to make
it a success. If you are involved in a skirmish or strike or know other
workers who are, please contact me at (212) 244-4899 or
themilitant@xxxxxxx. We’ll work together to ensure your story gets
told. —Roy Landersen
Nursing home workers in Illinois strike for more staff, pay and safety
CHICAGO — “We need more than $13 or $14 an hour to keep up with rising
prices,” Sam Brown told Militant worker-correspondents Nov. 23 on the
picket line outside the City View Multicare Center in Cicero. Brown, who
works in the…
Sydney hospital walkout protests inadequate hospital staffing
SYDNEY — Over 100 nurses and midwives walked off the job at Blacktown
Hospital in western Sydney Nov. 19 to protest longstanding
understaffing. Staff shortages at the public hospital have been an issue
there for years as management aims to…
Coles warehouse workers in Australia fight lockout, closing
SYDNEY — More than 350 workers at the Coles distribution center at
Smeaton Grange in southwest Sydney are picketing daily, fighting a
company lockout. Coles is one of the main supermarket chains in
Australia, taking in almost 1 billion Australian…
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Welcome to our 1,315 new readers of the ‘Militant’!
Nursing home workers in Illinois strike for more staff, pay and safety
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Brazilians protest store guards beating black man to death
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Protests in France hit racist cop attack, repressive law
Moroccan gov’t attack rekindles Polisario independence struggle
Protests, regime’s repression continue in Belarus
Fall Campaign to sell Militant subscriptions and books (final chart)
Socialist Workers Party Fund Drive (final chart)
On the Picket Line
Washington doctors, health care workers strike for patient safety
Coles warehouse workers in Australia fight lockout, closing
Sydney hospital walkout protests inadequate hospital staffing
Books of the Month
‘Cuban Revolution is sustained in power by working people’
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--
Carl Sagan “Why do we put up with it? Do we like to be criticized? No,
no scientist enjoys it. Every scientist feels a proprietary affection
for his or her ideas and findings. Even so, you don’t reply to critics,
Wait a minute; this is a really good idea; I’m very fond of it; it’s
done you no harm; please leave it alone. Instead, the hard but just rule
is that if the ideas don’t work, you must throw them away.” ― Carl
Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
