(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Largest Health Care Strike In History Begins This Morning [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-04 If someone has an image I’d be happy to post it with this article. Just link and I’ll do it. Only a brief mention in the paper of record from the night before last and that was incorrect. Nurses are not garbage collectors. I think the people who write for the NYT are the kind that get into an Ivy and their folks pay tuition. CNBC had it a little better here The striking workers include vocational nurses, emergency department technicians, radiology technicians, X-ray technicians, respiratory therapists, medical assistants, pharmacists and hundreds of other positions. Most of the working class workers. LPNs, CNAs etc, not RNs, PAs, MRNs or docs. an estimated 70,000 people. When the pandemic hit, nurses became “essential workers” now that covid isn’t killing as many, and we have vaccines, big health care isn’t as concerned about nurses. Many nurses simply quit due to overwork and stress. Also every person working in a health care facility has to undergo a background check prior to hiring. All workers are legal. Shortages are acute and departments that used to work with five nurses now have two and a CNA. To compete Kaiser hires nurses at higher rates than existing nurses that have been there for years, yet they are chronically understaffed in all departments, and wait times to get in are often months. I’m not sure how Kaiser is set up, supposedly as a non profit, but I know that doctors who are able to work efficiently and up to a certain standard, become part of the management and get a cut of the profit. Some doctors are staying off the job in sympathy. I like Kaiser. They are my insurer and also the folks I get healthcare from. (hate the word provider, won’t use it) The untaxed cost of our insurance is $32,000 per year for a family of four. I think that is more than enough to pay the people who work there. Updates: I’m adding more as I think of it, maybe a photo after I go out to the picket line. I’m not a Kaiser employee, but I know many who are. About money…. workers want 7% per year for the next 2 years, Kaiser wants to give them less. Inflation since covid adds up to 20%. If it rises another 4% in the next two years that’s 24% altogether and workers will still be making less in real dollars. NYT updated story to read support staff and other workers, including X-ray and lab technicians, sanitation workers who disinfect rooms between patients and pharmacy workers who help dispense medications. These workers attend surgeries, run imaging equipment and assist in outpatient clinics. Wonder why they can’t say the word nurses. Sanitation workers have become sanitation workers who disinfect rooms. Nothing said about that LPN holding the scope while the doc works on that tumor on the inside of your bladder. Nurse assistants also do most things except administer drugs. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/4/2197287/-Largest-Health-Care-Strike-In-History-Begins-This-Morning?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/