{"id":11614,"date":"2023-10-30T23:22:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T03:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=11614"},"modified":"2023-11-02T18:33:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T22:33:36","slug":"from-heroes-to-zeroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2023\/10\/from-heroes-to-zeroes\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFrom heroes to zeroes\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cF<\/span>rom heroes to zeroes\u201d is how rank-and-file worker and strike captain Lillie Loyd summed up the feelings of the tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers. This mobilization is the largest healthcare workers\u2019 strike in U.S. history. Loyd, a clinical lab assistant in Chino Hills, had been out on strike with hundreds of other colleagues and supporters for the second day when I met her at the Baldwin Park picket line. In the first week of October, the workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions authorized a three-day strike to force management to the table to listen to their demands.<\/p>\n

The workers called for a 25-dollar wage guarantee, more staffing support, and other demands. Multiple workers mentioned how health care workers have been championed as \u201cunsung heroes\u201d during the pandemic, as lift technician Jesse Felix puts it, but they have not been treated as such by Kaiser. Felix said that he is the only patient lift technician in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) at his workplace. This means that reinforcement support from other teams is consistently needed to help him assist his patients. He said that not only has this staffing shortage been worse in recent years\u2014Kaiser actually cut people\u2019s work hours and reduced his team after the pandemic started.<\/p>\n

Another worker, Marco Del Rosario, testified to many of the same concerns that Felix raised. He is the only physical assistant at the Baldwin Park facility, and has witnessed countless patients asking for more resources and support.<\/p>\n

The performative celebration of health care workers in recent years belies the worsening reality of their increased exploitation. Loyd shared that the staffing shortages have led to widespread overwork among workers, which then translates into patients not getting the quality care they need. She mentions slower turnaround time for patients, longer appointment wait times, lab test results being delayed, and mammograms for cancer patients taking months\u2014often because one worker is forced to do three people\u2019s jobs.<\/p>\n

When workers raise these issues at their workplace, they receive the same response from their managers every time: it\u2019s \u201cbeyond their control\u201d, or it \u201cexceeds their budget.\u201d Del Rosario said that Kaiser promotes this \u201cillusion\u201d that everyone must stay within budget limits. But workers are asking, \u201cwhat is this budget?\u201d When workers demand to see this company budget, however, the management refuses to transparently disclose details.<\/p>\n