St. Paul, MN – At 7 a.m., April 20, over 300 nursing home workers from five nursing homes walked off the job and began a three-day strike. The striking workers are represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa and have been in negotiations for their next union contracts.

The strike includes workers from Cerenity Care at Humboldt, which is owned by the Benedictine Living chain, as well as workers from Estates of Saint Louis Park, Estates of Fridley, Estates of Roseville and Estates of Excelsior, all of which are owned by Monarch Healthcare Management.

The workers are striking for higher wages, safe staffing, better benefits and because that management has not bargained in good faith throughout contract negotiations, for which the union has filed unfair labor practice charges.

Rhonda Little is a striking worker and lead cook who has worked at Cerenity Care at Humboldt for ten years. Speaking on the picket line, Little said, “We want more money. We want safe staffing and we want to keep our PTO. We are bargaining for a new contract and it is not going very well because our management doesn’t want to move, they don’t want to do anything, they want to just stay at 1.5% [pay increases] and we’re worth way more than that.”

Little has been on strike three times in her ten years at Cerenity but says that this time, “The entire management team are different, even corporate are different. So it’s a whole different way of fighting now and their answers to everything is just ‘no’ instead of trying to compromise to a deal. Our strike, I think a lot of it is about respect. Care for your employees as much as we care for the residents. We have been called heroes, during COVID right, we are called heroes because we care for people, we are taking care of human beings, but we are paid like we are dog walkers, so yes it its about money but the bottom line is respect.”

This strike is a three-day strike set to end on Wednesday April 22, however when asked what they will do if management doesn’t come back to the table and bargain in good faith Little said, “Push for another strike and push them for more!”

#StPaulMN #MN #Labor #Healthcare #Nursinghome #Strike #SEIUHCMNIA #SEIU #Featured

San Jose, CA – On March 18, over 300 members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which includes mental health professionals, clinicians and therapists, participated in a one-day strike at the Santa Clara Medical Center. The action was part of a larger strike across Northern California, which included over 2400 workers.

“We’re really trying to keep Kaiser accountable,” union member Ania Saeger said. “Our contract expired last September, and we're not making a lot of progress in the negotiation, especially around the language, with artificial intelligence, collaboration and really protections for our jobs.”

A reason for the strike was Kaiser’s improper implementation of artificial intelligence. For those in mental health, contact and a relationship between the patient and the counselor is crucial. Saeger explained how AI disrupts this relationship, stating, “You used to be able to call if you were a patient, [when you] needed something. We have this position that we rotate throughout the day, a counselor that is available throughout business hours. Kaiser changed it. They developed this call center where you cannot call the clinic directly. Patients are redirected and get frustrated; they either get a phone operator or AI to answer.”

Saeger emphasized that while the counselors and therapists were not opposed to AI assisting their jobs, they wanted assurances in the language of their contract that AI would not replace their jobs. This is language that Kaiser has refused to implement in their negotiations.

When asked how community members could support the NUHW in their contract struggle, Saeger answered, “Our patients have been instrumental to this movement. We have patients speak at our rallies. As human beings, we can relate stories, so we want our patients to get their stories out there.”

The strike also included a program at which the California Nurses Association, another union striking in solidarity, spoke. Pomaikai Neil, a nurse and representative of that union stated, “Kaiser wants to save money on the backs of healthcare workers. As registered nurses, we feel the pressure to work harder with less resources every time we miss our meal breaks, when we are told we will do the same job with less staff, or when we do grueling 16 hour shifts to make sure our patients are safe.”

Neil also stressed the issues posed by AI in the mental health field. “Imagine sharing your emotional information with your therapist and having them ask you if an artificial intelligence device can join in? Heavy usage of artificial intelligence can exacerbate psychosis and create dangerous relationships with unregulated technology.”

Neil continued, “The hallmark of mental health is human connection. A robot cannot learn empathy. CNA nurses stand with NUHW in their fight against the unilateral implementation of AI and we demand that Kaiser address the limited access to safe care by investing in staffing.”

NUHW and CNA are some of the many unions locked in struggle with Kaiser. Their demands surrounding AI are reflective of modern concerns around technology now melding with decades-long labor struggle. So long as Kaiser continues with further usage of AI and cost cutting around staffing, the labor struggle across different sectors of healthcare is sure to only heat up further.

#SanJoseCA #CA #Labor #Strike #Healthcare #NUHW #CNA #

On Wednesday, a group of more than 600 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners held a one-day strike against their employer, Minneapolis-based Allina Health. The primary and urgent care providers work at over 60 clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin and are organized with Doctors Council SEIU Local 10MD.

The Doctors Council said this event is the largest private-sector strike among healthcare providers in United States history, as well as the first ever in Minnesota. Matt Hoffman, family medicine physician at Allina, explained: “After 20 months of bargaining, we are striking for a primary care system where doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants have the time and resources to give our patients the best possible care.”

Allina Health has divested from its primary care network in recent years. In September of 2024 the nonprofit health conglomerate sold its outpatient laboratories to Quest Diagnostics, a for-profit company, for $230 million. On November 1, Allina closed four locations in Maplewood, Oakdale, Inver Grove Heights and downtown Minneapolis, with another location in Chaska set to close on February 1 of next year. These decisions have reduced access to care and slowed down test results.

Meanwhile, according to Dr. Hoffman, “Allina has not addressed burnout or inadequate staffing levels, and is trying to cut pay for our providers” at the bargaining table. Despite the company’s public projections of financial hardship, public tax records indicate that Allina Health CEO Lisa Shannon made over $3 million in 2023.

Allina’s behavior is part of a larger nationwide trend in healthcare, with increasing consolidation, cost cutting, and corporate influence making it harder for providers and other healthcare employees to serve patients well. These Doctors Council members are charting a new path and showing healthcare providers everywhere how to fight back against this dynamic. “We are trying to create a system where healthcare providers can focus on taking care of patients, and will not stop fighting as long as our patients are suffering,” Dr. Hoffman said.

The providers will be back in negotiations with Allina early next month.

#Labor #Healthcare #Allina #SEIU #Feature

Duluth, MN – On Friday, July 19, striking workers were on the picket line at Essentia Health, Duluth Clinic 2nd Street. Friday marked the 11th day of an open-ended strike by around 700 Registered Nurses and Advanced Practice Providers (APP) who formed a union in 2024.

The workers are demanding that management sit down with them and negotiate their first union contract, more than a year after they won their union election and formed a union. In February of 2024 the RNs at Essentia Clinics voted to join the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) and soon after, in July 2024, the Advanced Practice Providers also joined MNA.

Now, more than a year later, Essentia management is refusing to negotiate a first contract with the advanced practice workers and has filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to throw out the results of the election.

Essentia’s argument claims that advanced practice workers do not constitute a legally eligible bargaining unit under NLRB standards. However, this issue was litigated by the NLRB in 2024 and, after hearing both sides in a federal hearing the NLRB, ruled that the bargaining unit was valid and went ahead with the election. Once the workers won their election and formed a union Essentia was legally compelled to begin negotiating with the workers. To date, they have failed to do so and have said publicly that they will continue to refuse to do so as long as their appeal is unresolved.

At this time the union is in place and Essentia is legally required to negotiate with the workers until a time when the ruling is reversed, if it is. MNA has filed federal charges with the NLRB citing that Essentia committed an unfair labor practice by not bargaining with the newly-formed union.

Since Donald Trump was sworn into office in January of 2025, he has fired a sitting member of the NLRB board in Washington DC, meaning that the board no longer has a quorum to rule over cases which are appealed. This sets up a situation in which by appealing the ruling, regardless of validity of the appeal, the case will not be resolved at least until there is quorum again at the NLRB which could be in months or years.

On day eleven of the strike, the picket lines remained large and energetic with around 100 workers picketing at the 2nd Street clinic and another picket location at another Essentia clinic. Many cars driving by on 2nd Street honked and waved. Pizzas were delivered to feed the striking workers, and members of other unions in the area came out and walked the line in support of the strike.

Julie Flotten is an RN in the1st Street oncology building. Flotten said, “We have been working diligently just to try to get Essentia to create a contract with us, and confirm our jobs, not float us to areas that we are not trained, have transparency with us as employees and as an employer just give a promise in writing of how they are going to treat us so we can take care of our patients.”

Flotten went on to say, “We didn’t get hired to become float nurses. I worked really hard to become an expert in oncology. Essentia wants to be able to float us around based on numbers where they have low staff or wherever the need might be, but I wouldn’t be really good in OB or GI or neurology. I am really good in oncology, and so we want to have all of our colleagues work in the area that they are specialized in so they can deliver the best patient care.”

Brittany Ortler is a Nurse Practitioner in the gastroenterology department. Nurse Practitioners, along with Physicians Assistants and Midwives, form the advanced practice providers bargaining unit. Ortler stated, “We felt that the voices of the advanced practice providers were really not being heard at Essentia, and we felt that uniting the group together to unionize was really the only option that we had.”

Ortler continued, “We overwhelmingly voted to have a union. Since that time, after we voted, Essentia appealed that vote up to the National NLRB. The national NLRB – we gave them some time, and then the [U.S. presidential] election came and January 20 happened and the national NLRB no longer has a quorum so they are unable to even hear our case at this time, so we have asked Essentia to drop the appeal, we’ve asked them to come to the table to bargain with us, we’ve asked them to conditionally bargain with us while we are waiting for the appeal and they have just simply refused to acknowledge really that we exist and that we have rights to bargaining, so we are on an unfair labor practice strike.”

When asked what she would say to Essentia management, Ortler said, “We want to have a voice in how we care for our patients, the time we get to spend with our patients, whether that be being able to say no to having two patients scheduled at the same time and having to split your time between them both. We really feel strongly that we should be able to have a voice in how our patients are cared for,” adding, “We want to protect our patients, we want to protect ourselves, and we want to ensure that we are providing the best care for our patients as we can.”

To Essentia management, Flotten said, “Meet with us! Take this seriously! Take this as seriously as we are! People are losing their livelihoods right now. We don’t want to be out here walking when we are trained to be working, It’s a shame for our patients. None of us want to be out here on the sidewalk. It is not a vacation. The only glimmer is that we have made stronger relationships with one and another and made us stronger that way,” and, “Essentia needs to meet with us and bargain every day, and bring the advanced practice providers to the table and recognize their union, and to respect that these first contracts deserve a fair contract.”

#DuluthMN #MN #Labor #Nurses #Strike #Healthcare #MNA #NLRB #Feature

Two days into the nurses’ strike, on July 10, around 430 MNA members, advanced practice providers (APP), also walked off the job in dozens of locations. These workers began an open-ended strike of their own against Essentia Health. APP includes nurse practitioners, physician assistants, midwives, and clinical nurse specialists across 69 locations of Essentia. The union workers are running joint picket lines and events.

The striking nurses formed their union in February 2024, and the APP workers joined in July of 2024. Union membership was then certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This legally compels management to begin bargaining with the newly unionized workers.

Now, a year after the workers won NLRB certification, Essentia Health is appealing the ruling that granted the workers their union. That appeal could take anywhere from months to years to be relitigated, and until then the employees’ bargaining unit is legally certified. This requires management to bargain in good faith with the union. The boss’s position is that they refuse to fulfill their obligation to bargain until their appeal has been ruled on.

The MNA strike will continue until Essentia Health management decides to return to the bargaining table with the union members.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #Healthcare #Strike #MNA

Stillwater, MN – More than 80 healthcare workers at HealthPartners Stillwater clinics have been on strike since Tuesday, July 8. The workers are represented by the Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Heather Eggers is a medical assistant in family medicine with HealthPartners Stillwater. Eggers said, “We’re out here because there have been seven bargaining sessions, and the employer has come back with less than adequate compensation. We’re fighting for our wages over the next three years to be 5.75%, 5% and 4% and for better teaming benefits, floating benefits and other things that would help us do our jobs better.”

Workers decided it was time to show management how serious they are and took a strike vote. Voter turnout was extremely high and resulted in a 99% vote to strike. The union then filed a legally required ten-day notice of their intent to strike and began on July 8. The workers decided they would strike for four days, ending at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 11.

At the center of the dispute are wages. The union workers say that management has refused to come to the table with raises that respect their work. As the strike continues, HealthPartners is bringing in temporary replacement workers. The scab workers are paid significantly more than the workers on strike to do the same work.

In addition to across the board raises, the workers are seeking compensation for duties beyond their normal work when required. The workers are asked to perform “teaming,” which means that when a particular provider in the system is short-handed the extra work is performed by these workers in addition to their normal workloads. They believe they should be paid extra for this work as they are doing more than one person’s job. Similarly, they would like to be paid extra when they are required to float to areas other than where their normal job is based.

Fight Back! joined the HealthPartners workers on the picket line on Thursday. The picket was well attended, and community and labor supporters showed solidarity with the striking workers. It was a hot and humid day, and a local ice cream truck set up across the street from the picket line and was giving out free ice cream in support of the strike. Many cars passing by on the street honked, as people cheered and waved at the workers in support.

At 11 a.m. on Thursday July 10, an announcement went out across the picket line that management called and wants to go back to the bargaining table. The union and management will meet on Friday, July 11 to resume bargaining.

Eggers had a message for management, “Look at our support out here. We have had numerous people from the community coming by and supporting us, our patients coming by and supporting us. We’re here for the community so let’s listen to them and pay us what we are worth.”

The strike will continue on the sidewalks of HealthPartners Stillwater on Friday even as bargaining resumes.

#StillwaterMN #MN #Labor #Strike #SEIU #Healthcare #Feature

The proposed restructuring came after Florida State University and TMH announced their future partnership, and TMH is expanding significantly, including a new campus in Panama City. The new agreement would bypass city authority to approve members of TMH’s board.

Local retired cardiologist Dr. Edward Holifield, a frequent critic of TMH’s “subpar” healthcare, spoke with me to voice his frustrations with the city but also TMH’s lack of community accountability. He does not believe the city should sell TMH and argues the city should have more oversight.

Holifield states, “The city shouldn’t sell the property unless the proceeds of the sales go to the healthcare of Black and poor people. The city should own TMH and use it as a vehicle to provide affordable, quality, equitable healthcare instead of substandard healthcare.”

Holifield believes the city is engaging in a “hostile takeover” and that TMH leadership and employees were not even aware of the proposed changes. He says Mayor John Dailey and City Manager Reese Road were already moving behind the scenes.

Holifield criticized TMH for its $1 a year lease – the city owns all the buildings, the land, and hospital equipment. He also called out its high Black infant mortality rate, and frequent D ratings from the Leapfrog Group, an organization that collects, analyzes and publishes data on the healthcare industry. Furthermore, WFSU reported TMH received an F rating in spring 2020.

According to the Democrat, TMH has earned three consecutive D grades. As Holifield points out, “A substandard rating to Leapfrog means patients have either suffered unnecessarily or died unnecessarily.”

“One F is enough,” Holifield remarked, emphasizing that failing Leapfrog ratings are rare and dangerous.

Holifield also raises concerns over Tallahassee's high rates of Black maternal and infant mortality, citing data from Florida CHARTS as a source that breaks down outcomes by county and race. He accuses TMH of ignoring racial disparities in care, despite being a non-profit hospital.

Holifield wonders if TMH’s expansion into Panama City is even illegal, saying, “TMH doesn’t pay any property taxes, but it provides medical resources for the people of Panama City.”

He asks who gave TMH authority to expand. Was it the city commission? The Black community? “Why export resources to Margaritaville when Black babies are dying in Tallahassee?” he said.

Holifield also criticizes TMH for its racist history. “Black people have paid the price [to build TMH] but they never fully benefited from it. Black people weren’t even allowed in TMH until 1965. It was built using a 10% utility tax that Black people had to pay to support the white municipal hospital.”

He wonders how an organization can pay a $1-a-year lease and exploit its workers, stating, “You can work full time at TMH and still be eligible for food stamps and Medicaid. The CEO makes over a million a year while janitors only make $14 an hour. That’s not a living wage.” According to ProPublica, TMH’s CEO racks up a $1,212,451 salary.

He also accuses TMH of promoting infant formula over breastfeeding for premature babies, contributing to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). He says TMH only adopted the “Baby-Friendly” hospital standard which encourages breastfeeding, after community pressure.

Holifield argues decisions like these are life-and-death issues that disproportionately affect poor and Black families.

Finally, Holifield connects TMH’s culture to a broader trend of silencing discussions about racism and inequity in public institutions. He points to a controversial list of banned DEI-related terms recently published by FSU leadership.

“How can you address racial disparities in healthcare when you can’t even say the words?” he asked. “We’re going backward.”

As the city of Tallahassee weighs the future of TMH, Holifield words serve as a warning, emphasizing that without transparency, accountability and commitment to equity, the hospital’s legacy of exclusion and inequality will only deepen.

#TallahasseeFL #FL #PeoplesStruggle #Healthcare

Allendale, MI – On January 29, Grand Valley State University's Progressive Student Union (PSU) led a speak-out against the new Trump administration. People held signs relating to healthcare, immigration, LGBTQ rights and other causes. The mood was casual, and people joined the students in protest throughout the event.

PSU organizer Owen Frassetto said, “Trump and his administration are now waging attacks against all sorts of people in this country. We need to unite the organizations of these different groups to stand together against attacks on immigrants, on trans people, on public education, and so much more. Our work is cut out for us, but people are ready to stand together and act.”

Another organizer, Elisa Skinner, said, “If you think the direction the country is heading in is the best it can be, I invite you to take a look around and stand in someone else's shoes. We have families being ripped apart, laws and standards violated, and billionaires such as Elon Musk giving Nazi salutes and attending far-right rallies.”

Donald Trump's election has brought with it uncertainty in regard to civil rights and the future of oppressed people. As anew student organization, PSU is trying to unite all forces that can be united against Donald Trump on Grand Valley's campus.

The Progressive Student Union holds weekly meetings which are announced on their Instagram, @psugvsu

#AllendaleMI #GVSU #PSU #PSUGVSU #Trump #LGBTQ #LGBTQrights #Healthcare #Immigration

Duluth, MN – At 4 p.m. on a blustery January 15 in Duluth, workers from Essentia Health-Deer River pulled up in a bus in front of the Essentia Health-Duluth hospital and began a solidarity picket in front of the main entrance to the hospital.

The Deer River Essentia workers are represented by the Service Employees International Union, Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa (SEIU HCMNIA). January 15 marked their 38th day of an open-ended strike at their hospital and nursing home.

The healthcare workers are striking over pay, saying that cost of living has gone up and they need real raises to keep paying the bills. After 38 days on strike, they decided to take their fight to Essentia headquarters in Duluth, nearly 100 miles from Deer River.

The small hospital and clinic in Deer River, Minnesota was bought up by the rapidly expanding Essentia system, which has purchased many of the hospitals in the northern half of the state.

The striking workers were joined at the solidarity picket by members of the Minnesota Nurses Association and the United Steel Workers, who both represent large numbers of workers at the Duluth Essentia hospital, as well as by supporters from the AFL-CIO and the surrounding community.

Around 100 union members and supporters picketed for two hours from 4 to 6 p.m. It was cold, and high winds off of Lake Superior buffeted the crowd. Picket signs could be seen blowing off of sticks and taking to the wind, but the picketers were undeterred, with loud chanting and warm coffee and hot chocolate donated from supporters.

Sarah Jo Roberts, a certified surgical technologist at the Deer River Hospital for over 14 years stated, “What we are asking for is fair sustainable wages for our members. We are the lowest paid Essentia Health workers in the entire state of Minnesota and that is just not acceptable. Cost of living goes up every year and what we are asking for is a fair livable wage. Essentia is saying ‘nope we can't afford to pay you any more because you are in a small community’ but why is it that our Essentia CEO is one of the highest paid in the state of Minnesota and gets a $1.1 million bonus, which was tripled from the prior year? How is that ok but you can tell us, the ones that are doing the work, that you can't pay us more? That's not ok.”

When asked about what is coming next, Roberts said, “We will be meeting management at the bargaining table on the 22nd and we hope to get an agreement, but if we don't, we're gonna stay on the line til we get a contract that is sustainable for us.”

#DuluthMN #MN #Labor #Strike #Healthcare #SEIU #Feature

On December 4, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in broad daylight, right in front of the hotel where a UHC investors meeting was set to begin. What followed was a multi-million dollar manhunt that culminated in the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.

Since then, the ruling class media have worked overtime to paint Mangione as a villain, although he represents people’s righteous anger at a health “care” system that is killing us.

In one breath, Fox News hosts derided those who applaud Mangione as “nutbags” and claimed they had a “sickness.” Then, in the same segment, Laura Ingram said subway killer Daniel Penny was a hero. She supports individuals such as Daniel Penny because of a deeply rooted racism and white chauvinism. In Ingram’s world, the actions of Daniel Penny, the white ex-Marine found not guilty of the murder of Jordan Neely, a homeless Black person and street performer, meet with her approval precisely because she embraces keeping the oppressed oppressed.

The hypocrisy is blatant and unsurprising. Fox News is silently shouting that the life of a Black homeless man is worth less than the life of a high-powered white health insurance executive.

Right-wingers love vigilantism as long as it doesn’t target the rich and powerful. They celebrate racist killers like George Zimmerman, Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penny but condemn Luigi Mangione.

It’s not just the right-wing media that is trying to persuade Americans against Mangione; liberal publications like The Daily Beast have published headlines like “Luigi Mangione Destroyed His Grandfather’s Rags-to-Riches Legacy.” The media is attempting to frame the focus away from the systemic failures Mangione’s actions highlighted and redirect it toward character assassination. The media tries to turn the public eye towards the privileged upbringing of Mangione and attempts to bury the man’s chronic suffering, which was much like the suffering of many Americans.

This isn't an issue of “left-wing lunatics” celebrating the death of a CEO. The events of the last week shine a light on the hundreds of thousands of Americans drowning in medical debt and grieving loved ones who were killed by the profit-driven healthcare industry. Sky-high premiums, along with benefits that are cut more steeply each year, are taking a toll on the people. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation found that in 2022, the average American spent significantly more on healthcare than other countries, at $13,493 per person or $4.5 trillion nationwide.

Additionally, Statista reports, “As of 2023, around 19 percent of U.S. adults were satisfied with the total healthcare cost in the United States.” According to Value Penguin, UnitedHealthcare’s claim denial rate is the highest in the industry, at 32%. Physicians for a National Health Program also found that 44,789 Americans die every year due to a lack of healthcare. The United States of America is touted as the wealthiest country in the world. Yet, it is the only developed nation that does not provide free universal healthcare to its citizens.

The American people are aware of the growing social inequality. They are aware of the ways that the wealthy 1% uses power and money to disenfranchise the masses. Therefore, the ruling class must contend with what will undoubtedly be increased hostility as the people grapple with the hypocrisies of our present society.

Luigi Mangione is not the villain – the healthcare industry is. Ultimately, Brian Thompson's death does not undo this for-profit industry's systemic failures. Individual actions like this are not the answer. Organizing is.

Donald Trump will be sworn in as president soon, and he has already promised to undo the Affordable Care Act. What the killing of Brian Thompson has shown is that the masses of the American people want something better, sooner rather than later. Now is the time to demand single-payer healthcare. The current system, which places the profits of the wealthy before the needs of the people, needs to go.

#Opinion #Commentary #Healthcare #LuigiMangione #HealthInsurance

New York, New York – A crowd of 100 demonstrators rallied in front of New York City Hall on Friday, March 22, to support home health aides on a hunger strike to end the inhumane 24-hour workdays that home attendants in New York City are forced to endure.

New York is the only state that permits health care agencies to schedule workers for 24-hour shifts, rather than dividing that period into two 12-hour shifts like other states. These 24-hour shifts leave workers exhausted, with little time to see their own families, and often result in chronic injuries and serious health conditions for the workers. Furthermore workers, who are predominantly immigrant women of color, are typically paid for only 13 out of those 24 hours.

Beginning March 20, several home attendants embarked on a hunger strike to demand city council pass the No More 24 Act, a bill which would ban these 24-hour shifts. But Speaker of City Council Adrienne Adams refuses to bring the bill to a vote.

At the rally on Friday, organized by GABRIELA New York and Youth Against Sweatshops, the crowd chanted “No more 24!” in reference to the bill.

Speakers highlighted the irony of Speaker Adams, the first Black speaker presiding over the first women-majority city council, turning her back on her fellow women of color. The speaker from GABRIELA NYC called attention to this fact, demanding to know “Speaker Adams, do you not have the courage to bear witness to these women going hungry? Or are you ignoring them to avoid a little discomfort?”

Other speakers at the protest included former home attendants who discussed their own experiences working brutal 24 hour shifts. One speaker related how while caring for her own 91-year-old mother, she was unable to get the health care agency to split the day into two 12-hour shifts. As a result of the exhaustion the speaker suffered trying to maintain this impossible schedule, her mother slipped and broke her hip.

Briony Smith, speaking on behalf of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, highlighted the financial interests involved, saying, “It is shameful that after ten years of home attendants tirelessly organizing, Speaker Adrienne Adams would still rather let women starve themselves on the steps of city hall than shave a single cent off the profits of health care agencies and insurance companies.”

As long as the city council continues to permit these inhumane working conditions and refuses to vote on the No More 24 Act, home attendants in New York City will continue to hunger strike and organize to demand an end to the 24-hour workday.

#NewYorkNY #NY #Labor #Healthcare #GABRIELA #FRSO #

Tampa, FL – Early in the morning March 4, nurses and their supporters rallied out front HCA Florida Largo Hospital in Largo to generate support for a good contract in the upcoming negotiations between HCA and National Nurses United.

Passing commuters honked their car horns as the crowd chanted in support of major nurse demands.

Contract negotiations begin March 5 for HCA nurses at ten hospitals across central Florida from Brooksville, south to Port Charlotte, and east to Orlando. Among the main demands are safe staffing levels and patient ratios, as well as fighting attempts to replace RNs with team nursing programs and technology.

The previous contract was negotiated in 2021 with the COVID-19 pandemic being a focal point. The contract expires May 31. HCA is the largest hospital system in the United States, making $5.2 billion in 2023. Florida senator and former governor Rick Scott made his name in the 90s after being forced to resign as CEO from HCA in a scandal over improper bookkeeping.

“HCA staffs their hospitals at 30% below the national average, we want them to staff it at 100%,” said National Nurses United bargaining committee member Karena Jimenez, in reference to one of the major demands they are fighting for in contract negotiations.

National Nurses United pledged to continue their struggle against HCA’s greedy practices.

#TampaFL #Labor #Contract #NNU #Healthcare #Nurses

A number of community organizations were in attendance for the rally, including Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH), the Coalition to Save St. Francis Hospital, Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee, WISDOM and supportive healthcare agency representatives in the area.

(MICAH) stated in a press release regarding the closure of the clinic: “It is clear that Children’s Wisconsin is more interested in following the model of other healthcare corporations like Ascension Wisconsin by divesting from essential services in low-income communities of color. The closure of Next Door Pediatrics Clinic, like the closure of Saint Francis Hospital’s labor and delivery unit last year, is a greedy and racist decision.

“MICAH, the Coalition to Save Saint Francis, partner organizations and our communities will continue fighting and advocating for the continuation of services at Next Door Pediatrics. If Children’s Wisconsin is committed to their mission, they’d be expanding the services of Next Door Pediatrics, not closing the facility.”

Lo Cross, a member of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said, “These people and corporations do not have the same values of the communities that they are stewards of. They claim to be of the community but community interests in their practices are absent. Everyone wants to write think pieces and story-tell of all the things that Black and brown communities in Milwaukee are inadequate with, with no context as to when and how things are taken from us.”

Cross continues, “That’s why it’s important that we are all here today and continue to show up in support of the efforts to keep Next Door open. Corporations and monied interests may have a long history of disinvestment and exploitation in Milwaukee, but organized communities have a longer and deeper rooted history here of winning all that can be won, including reinvestment in our communities.“

MiCAH, along with other concerned organizations in the city, hope to have a summit to convene around the common issue of preventing healthcare closures in our city and holding those in power accountable.

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #Healthcare #NAARPR

Milwaukee, WI – On October 20, dozens of healthcare workers joined a press conference to condemn the unprecedented public health crisis being caused by Israel's criminal siege and bombardment of 2.3 million civilians in Gaza.

“As healthcare workers in the Milwaukee area, we are deeply disturbed by the current Israeli war on Gaza, and the large toll of civilians that have been killed and injured, particularly children,” said Dr. Hashim Zaibak, a Palestinian-American doctor from Gaza.

Gaza's health ministry says over 4000 people have been killed by Israel's indiscriminate air strikes. Over 1000 children have been killed.

“Our president's claim that he will make sure civilians are treated according to the laws of war are empty and false words. By supplying Israel with much of its arms and giving Israel the green light to attack the civilian population of more than 2.3 million people, our government is complicit in the violation of international laws and treaties that are considered war crimes,” Dr. Zaibak said.

More than 1 million children are at serious risk of dehydration and water-borne diseases as they are forced to drink contaminated water, because that's all that's available.

“We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe as it unfolds before our eyes. We cannot remain silent,” Dr. Zaibak said. “As healthcare workers in the Milwaukee area, it is our mission to help protect and save lives. This is a human right that applies to all people, regardless of where they reside. Our government must act now!”

The press conference was organized by American Muslims for Palestine and the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. Healthcare workers from several local hospitals and clinics participated in the event, including at least one union member from the only organized private hospital in the city of Milwaukee.

Many in attendance intend to join the demonstration planned for Sunday, October 22 at 11 a.m. being hosted by the recently formed Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine.

#MilwaukeeWI #Palestine #AMP #Healthcare #CJP

African American women across the county are in shock about the recent case of Jessica Ross and the decapitation of her baby, Treveon Isaiah Taylor Jr., during childbirth. This case illustrates the deeply troubling maternal and infant mortality crisis affecting African American communities. The heart-wrenching incident is a painful reminder of the urgent inequalities within the United States healthcare system that unevenly impact Black women and their infants. It is an unfortunate representation of a broader crisis that can only be addressed through the struggle for Black liberation and socialism.

Jessica Ross, of Georgia, filed a lawsuit against a Southern Regional Medical Center and others involved in delivering her baby Taylor Jr, who was allegedly decapitated during childbirth. The lawsuit claims that the hospital, located just outside Atlanta, attempted to hide the baby's death from the family. The complaint alleges that the doctor applied excessive traction on the baby's head and neck, resulting in Taylor Jr's death. The hospital insisted that the Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Sr, and Jessica Ross not view their baby and attempted to pressure the couple to immediately cremate Taylor Jr. The family's spokesperson states that the hospital only allowed them to view their baby wrapped tightly in a blanket to hide the decapitation.

This disturbing incident is not isolated. It exposes the deeply rooted racist and gender biased healthcare system that disproportionately affects Black women and their infants. Celebrities like Serena Williams have garnered media attention for her childbirth-related complications, shedding light on a much broader crisis. If even multi-millionaire African Americans are at risk of life-threatening injuries during childbirth, what does that mean for working-class African American women? Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts.

Tori Bowie, a former Olympic track and field athlete, tragically lost her life at 32 due to childbirth complications. At eight months pregnant, Bowie was found dead during an unplanned home birth. The autopsy report indicated potential complications coming from respiratory distress and eclampsia – conditions linked to high blood pressure during pregnancy. The death of Tori Bowie mirrors the reality that African American women face during childbirth. For example, Black women are more likely to have preeclampsia and eclampsia during childbirth.

Additional stats show that African American women experience an infant mortality rate at 2.3 times higher than whites. This alarming statistic is a clear indictment of a capitalist healthcare system that refuses to adequately support and protect Black mothers and infants.

The situation is particularly dire in regions like the Black Belt South, where access to healthcare remains a struggle for many African Americans. One problem is the scarcity of Black doctors, particularly Black women doctors. It is wrong that in areas with majority Black populations, there is still limited availability of medical professionals. I have experienced this as a Black woman living in the Black Belt South. The scarcity of African American obstetricians and gynecologists in cities like Tallahassee illustrates the broader problem.

We need Black liberation and socialism to end this crisis. We must have self-determination and political power. We right to a proper education, jobs, safety and healthcare. We need a revolution. We need to build a united front against the rulers of this country, a united front with a strategic alliance of the multinational working class and national liberation movements at its center.

When we did have Black doctors, businesses, and thriving economic regions, we were attacked and brutalized in events like the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921, also known as the attack on Black Wall Street. In every sector of life, African Americans are repressed. That is national oppression. It is not just racism, it is real inequality – an actual economic, social and cultural attack on African Americans. It is how the ruling class holds onto its grip in this society. The ruling class benefits from national oppression. We can no longer allow them to rule in this way.

The horrifying case of Jessica Ross shines a spotlight on the pressing need to address maternal and infant health care within African American communities. The entire structure of this country must fundamentally change. We must hold these healthcare institutions accountable, end systemic racism in medical care, and commit unwaveringly to the cause of Black liberation. No parent should have to endure such a devastating loss and only we as a society can do that.

#UnitedStates #NationalOppression #WomensMovement #Healthcare #BlackWomen #birth

Saint Paul, MN – The 2023 Minnesota legislative session ended on May 22, and it’s one for the history books. A wide array of progressive measures that working class and oppressed peoples’ movements in Minnesota have demanded for years and even decades became law, as the Republicans howled from the sidelines but didn’t have the votes to stop it.

The stage was set for this when the Democrats bucked predictions of Republican gains in the November 2022 election, with Democratic Governor Tim Walz handily winning re-election, and the Democrats winning a slim majority in both the state House and Senate. This Democratic “trifecta” brought to an end to around a decade of divided government in Minnesota that bottled up any progressive policies and led to gridlock where little legislation of consequence passed. Add to the mix a $17 billion budget surplus, a new group of oppressed nationality legislators with histories in mass movements, the virtual disappearance of rural moderate Democrats due to political polarization, and pent up frustration with the extreme right wing turn of the federal courts and the Republican Party, and you have the ingredients for the most progressive legislative session in a generation.

This led to a legislative session unlike any in recent times.

The breadth of progressive policies that the state legislature passed this year surprised many observers. The last time the DFL had a trifecta of control over the governor’s office along with the state House and Senate a decade ago, they passed a small number of important progressive measures but overall chose caution and just maintained the status quo on most issues. This has matched the experience of Democrats in power at the federal level for our entire lifetimes; when they have won elections, the Democrats have not only failed to advance bold, new progressive policies — they've failed to even maintain the status quo of the gains won in the 1930s New Deal era and the 1960s freedom movement era as the Republicans have relentlessly attacked those gains.

The recent experience of a Democratic trifecta at the national level from 2020-2022 repeated this experience, with President Biden and the Democratic-controlled Congress failing to pass transformational legislation to advance people’s rights and even failed to defend abortion rights while Republicans in the courts and in state governments continued to methodically strip away the gains of previous struggles and have gone on the attack to further erode the basic democratic rights of working class and oppressed peoples.

The fact that the Democrats only had a one-vote majority in the Minnesota Senate led many people to expect something similar to what we saw at the federal level over the previous two years, where two of the Democrats’ most conservative U.S. Senators – Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema – blocked serious progressive legislation, negating the Democratic majority.

But that didn’t happen this year in Minnesota. The Democrats came out swinging from the start of the legislative session, passing progressive legislation on a range of issues quickly and not letting up until the session ended in May.

That said, there are some notable things the legislature didn't do, and things that Governor Walz vetoed after threats of blackmail by major corporations, which clearly demonstrate the limits of what's possible in this system even with total Democratic control.

What was passed?

Abortion rights

Given that the Democrats largely won the elections in Minnesota because of outrage about the overturning of Roe v. Wade nationally, they put a high priority on a range of bills to strengthen abortion rights in Minnesota. In the face of attacks on abortion rights in many Republican-controlled states, Minnesota went in the opposite direction and significantly expanded abortion rights.

While a state court ruling had previously protected abortion rights in Minnesota, the overturning of Roe v. Wade nationally made it clear that a court ruling is not strong enough protection for this basic right. So the legislature passed a law to put abortion rights into the Minnesota legal code as a “fundamental right”, making it harder for right wing judges to easily overturn it. They also overturned basically all the restrictions that had been placed on abortion over the years as part of the long-term Republican strategy to chip away at abortion rights bit-by-bit with things like waiting periods, extra unnecessary paperwork, etc.

They passed a law protecting people who come to Minnesota for an abortion from other states that might try to legally prosecute them because they’ve outlawed abortion. And finally, they cut all state funding to “crisis pregnancy centers,” which are misleading anti-abortion “fake clinics” littering the state. Many are religious institutions that try to talk vulnerable people out of seeking abortion as one of their health care options. Previously these centers received millions of dollars of state funding, but no more. The struggle to increase access to abortion continues, as even though it remains legal there are very few clinics that offer abortion services in the state.

Voting rights expansion

In the face of attacks on voting rights on the federal level with the effective end of the Voting Rights Act and attacks on voting rights in Republican-controlled states, this year’s Minnesota legislature passed several expansions of voting rights. One important one is restoring the vote to people convicted of felonies who are on felony probation or parole. This voting restriction has disproportionately impacted Black Minnesotans. This change restores the right to vote for around 50,000 Minnesotans. They also passed a law that will now automatically register eligible voters to vote, which is a significant expansion of voting access, and will automatically pre-register eligible 16 and 17-year-olds to vote. There will also now be a permanent absentee voter list, so people who want to vote by mail can automatically get a ballot sent to their home before each election.

Protecting trans and queer rights

In the face of attacks on transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary people in Republican-controlled states, the Minnesota legislature passed a series of bills to protect trans people. One bill protects people traveling to Minnesota for gender-affirming care from legal attacks in other states, including prohibiting the governor from extraditing someone for receiving gender-affirming care in Minnesota. Another bill bans “conversion therapy” statewide, which is a discredited practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity to make them straight.

Drivers license for all and insurance for immigrants

The immigrant rights movement in Minnesota has fought to win back drivers license access for all regardless of immigration status since that right was taken away from undocumented residents in the anti-immigrant fervor after 9/11. After 20 years of struggle, this year the legislature quickly moved to pass the drivers license for all bill, and passed a clean version of the bill without special markings on the license that would expose people as being immigrants, like some previous versions of the bill would have done.

Another important measure passed that benefits immigrant communities is that now Minnesota’s immigrant residents will be eligible to enroll in MinnesotaCare, the state’s publicly-subsidized insurance program.

Police accountability

One of the biggest missing elements in the legislature’s otherwise progressive efforts has been around reigning in racist police violence with policies to increase police accountability. In the aftermath of the police murdering George Floyd, several organizations fighting for police accountability and families impacted by police violence proposed a series of new laws; they were almost entirely ignored. This year, one significant piece of legislation passed that addresses police brutality – new limits statewide on no-knock search warrants, like the kind that led to the Minneapolis police killing Amir Locke in January 2022. There are loopholes in the bill though that still allow no-knock warrants in some situations. But overall, the legislature failed to make significant strides toward reigning in racist police violence.

Health care

The legislature expanded MinnesotaCare to create a public option, an important step in the direction of health care for all.

The legislature also passed a statewide paid family and medical leave plan, expanding paid work leave to large numbers of workers who don’t currently have such benefits at their jobs. Eleven other states have similar programs. Additionally, the legislature passed a statewide sick leave program. Workers who don’t currently get sick leave at their jobs will now get an hour of sick leave per 30 hours of work.

Transportation

After decades of underfunding of transportation infrastructure, legislators passed a nearly $9 billion transportation bill, including new taxes and fees that will raise significant amounts of dedicated funding for transportation infrastructure as well as funding for public transit and funding for the ever-elusive passenger train line from the Twin Cities to Duluth, which now seems like it will become a reality. The legislature decriminalized fare evasion for all Twin Cities transit agencies, an important move in both curtailing racist enforcement of such laws as well as potentially a step toward free public transportation.

Housing

The state legislature passed $1 billion in spending on housing, and created the first-ever tax dedicated to affordable housing. While more should have been allocated to public housing, there is $10 million to retrofit public high-rise housing with sprinklers; a few years ago, several people died in a fire in a Minneapolis public housing fire. A new state program was also created that’s similar to the federal Section 8 program that could help 5,000 low-income renters.

Public education

For higher education, the North Star Promise Program creates a free college education for students with a family income under $80,000, and increased funding for Minnesota’s tribal colleges.

The K-12 public education budget is $23.2 billion. This is a significant increase over previous years, coming after decades of underfunding of public education. Importantly, future funding will be tied to inflation increases to not fall behind inflation. The bill includes a permanent expansion of pre-kindergarten education to 12,360 seats statewide, funds to increase the size and diversity of the teaching workforce, nearly doubling funding for American Indian education, $65.9 million to pay paraprofessionals and special education instructors for their work time outside of the classroom in addition to their classroom time, funding for a new mandate that schools have menstrual products available, funding for creating new gender-neutral bathrooms, and much more.

The legislature also passed free school lunch statewide, starting next school year. This continues something that was implemented on a temporary basis at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but was set to end.

Child care assistance

The legislature passed a large increase in funding for the Child Care Assistance Program.

Climate change

A new law set a statewide goal to have a carbon-free electric grid in Minnesota by 2040. While slower than climate activists want, it moves in the right direction in comparison to the reversals in Republican-controlled states. Hundreds of millions will also now be available for climate projects and rebates for electric vehicles, buses, bikes, air-source heat pumps, and more.

Roof Depot

Late in the session, legislators intervened in the struggle in the East Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis over the future of the Roof Depot site. A years-long struggle came to a head this year as the largely indigenous and immigrant working-class neighborhood fought to stop the city of Minneapolis’s plan to demolish the Roof Depot site, releasing arsenic into the air from the polluted site, and then putting a public works site there that would bring more diesel traffic to the heavily polluted neighborhood. Instead the community wanted to create an urban farm on the site, but Minneapolis Mayor Frey and the majority of the city council pushed ahead with their own plan.

As the demolition of the site was looming, the state legislature budgeted money for the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute to purchase the site and brokered a deal that Mayor Frey agreed to accept for the community to take control of the site. This sealed a huge victory for the indigenous people and environmentalists who resisted the city’s plan for eight years.

New state flag

The legislature passed a measure that will likely result in a new Minnesota state flag to replace the current flag which is both aesthetically confusing as well as racist in portraying a Native American exiting the scene as a white farmer works the land. A commission will propose a new state flag design for the legislature to consider next year.

CROWN Act

The CROWN Act was passed this session, which changes the MN Human Rights Act to protect against discrimination in employment, housing and education based on hairstyle, something that has been particularly used against Black people.

Unprecedented budget increase and new revenue

The biggest financial thing that happens in a legislative session is passing the state’s budget for the next two years. The budget they passed this year smashed the previous record, with a 40% increase in spending. This means a significant increase in spending on social programs that benefit working people, which have been starved of funds in recent decades as neo-liberal cuts to social programs have been the norm under both Republican and Democrat administrations. There was also a large increase to local government aid, and a massive $2.6 billion bonding package of infrastructure projects. This is the largest bonding bill ever passed in Minnesota; no bonding bill for infrastructure was passed at all in the previous two years due to divided government gridlock. The legislature passed $100 million in funding for high-speed internet infrastructure, which will help in many parts of the state with inadequate internet access.

Marijuana legalization

One of the measures that got the most media attention was the legalization of recreational marijuana in Minnesota, which now becomes the 23rd state to do so. Decriminalization of simple possession and home growing of marijuana will go into effect in August. The bill also calls for expunging some low-level marijuana offenses from people’s criminal records; Black people in Minnesota have been arrested for marijuana possession at a much higher rate than white people.

Capitalists set limits

The fast pace and wide array of bills the legislature passed seemed to even catch many in the capitalist class off guard. But by the end of the legislative session, they regained their footing and stopped some important bills in their tracks. Under threats from large corporations, Governor Walz intervened to squash two bills that working class people and unions fought hard for. One was a bill supported by the nurses’ union, the Keep Nurses at the Bedside Act, which would have taken important measures to address the crisis of understaffing and overworking of nurses. This was set to pass until the Mayo Clinic, a hugely powerful corporation in Minnesota, sent a public letter to legislators and the governor threatening to move billions of dollars of future investments to other states if Minnesota passed this law. First the legislature tried to do a carveout for Mayo to exclude them from the bill, but then other hospital corporations got mad, and the whole bill fell apart.

Second was a bill that passed both the House and Senate and only needed the governor’s signature to pass. This bill would have created basic worker protections and a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft rideshare drivers, who are classified as “independent contractors,” and so most existing labor law, as inadequate as it is, doesn’t apply to them. The bill was pushed by the Minnesota Uber & Lyft Drivers Association (MULDA), representing the largely East African workers who are rideshare drivers.

After passing both houses of the legislature, Uber, learning from what Mayo Clinic did to tank the nursing bill, sent a threatening letter to the governor saying that if he signed it, Uber would end all operations in greater Minnesota and would only continue certain specialized services in the Twin Cities. The governor balked and issued the first veto of his time in office, leaving thousands of oppressed nationality workers still without a basic minimum wage or workers’ protections.

The killing of these two bills in particular show where the true power lies in a capitalist country. Even in a best case scenario of complete Democratic control in a state under the most ideal economic conditions of a massive budget surplus, the capitalist class can still override the will of the people and of the legislature and essentially veto bills they don’t like by issuing threats. This shows the need to not only fight to win what can be won under the current system, but to fight for a new system – socialism – where working class and oppressed people have the reins of power and can’t be bullied by large corporations into denying workers basic rights.

Angered but unbowed by the governor caving to capitalist threats, both the nurses’ union and MULDA have pledged to continue their struggle to pass these bills next year.

Increased polarization – two legal systems in one country

The results of this year’s legislative session in Minnesota paint a sharp contrast to the avalanche of reactionary laws passing in Republican-controlled states. This is a reflection of the growing political polarization in the U.S., and the consolidation of two very different legal systems in this country, with some states preserving and expanding democratic rights, and other states sharply attacking and curtailing them.

This situation of political polarization makes it possible to win some important advances for democratic rights in Democratic-controlled states if mass movements are well organized and prepared to place clear demands on the Democrats in power.

It also shows the need to strongly support movements and communities in Republican-controlled states that are under attack and fighting back and resisting the wave of reaction in their states. Winning more democratic rights in the states where it’s possible helps those fighting in other states through raising the bar of what’s possible, as well as offering sanctuary to people and communities in those states who come under increasing attack with the wave of reactionary laws.

#SaintPaulMN #ImmigrantRights #InJusticeSystem #Labor #WomensMovement #Healthcare #HousingStruggles #EnvironmentalJustice

Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, April 18 the Milwaukee Common Council unanimously passed a resolution asking Ascension Wisconsin to reopen the labor and delivery Unit at Saint Francis Hospital.

The Coalition to Save Saint Francis held a press conference in the City Hall rotunda after the resolution passed.

“Today the Milwaukee Common Council unanimously passed a resolution urging Ascension Saint Francis to reconsider its closure of the labor and delivery unit that closed at Christmas time at Saint Francis, but also to commit to stop divesting from the city of Milwaukee. We want them to establish a one-year moratorium on any downsizing or service reductions at any of their city of Milwaukee healthcare facilities,” said Alderwoman Jocasta Zamarripa.

“Closing the labor and delivery just before Christmas was a backwards decision and a mistake. This resolution calls on them to make it right,” Zamarripa continued.

This resolution was the result of months-long efforts of the Coalition to Save Saint Francis. The coalition is a broad-based community coalition comprising the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, faith leaders, Reproductive Justice Action – Milwaukee, and other progressive community organizations.

“It is important we have the leadership of progressive unions and community organizations to get results like this,” said Lauryn Cross, co-chair of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “When we work together for a better vision for our community, we can achieve anything. When we work as individuals, we are vulnerable to people who do not represent our communities best interest.”

The resolution additionally calls of Ascension to put a moratorium on any other cuts to services in their Milwaukee facilities for the next year.

“Let’s be clear, that Ascension needs to protect and work with our community, including our union, not only on the South Side but also across the city to protect and preserve the services at Saint Francis and every hospital they have in our city and across the state. Shame on Ascension,” said Connie Smith, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, AFT Local 5000.

Breaking with their months-long silence on the issue, Ascension contacted media immediately after the resolution passed signifying, they are not influenced by the continued outcry of the community and elected officials. Due to Ascension’s complete lack of regard for community needs and patient care, the Coalition to Save Saint Francis is committed to keep fighting to reopen the labor and delivery unit and for quality care for all of Milwaukee.

For years, community members and organizations have raised the alarm that Ascension has been a bad actor in Milwaukee, making decisions that benefit profit over patient safety, workers’ rights, and community needs. Ascension is a multi-billion dollar corporation that runs like a for-profit organization with hospitals in multiple states.

“Our hospital systems are non-profit in name only. Ascension is a non-profit, it is a huge healthcare monopoly nationally that has hospitals here in Milwaukee. It has $8 billion in reserves,” said Robert Craig of Citizen Action of Wisconsin.

Craig continued, “The only reason they are a non-profit is because they are supposed to act in the public interest. They are not operating in the public interest. They are building Taj Mahal hospitals in the segregated suburbs because they pay more money. That is not the role of a non-profit.”

Reverend Joseph Jackson of the Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope ended the press conference with a call to action for city, state and federal officials.

Jackson stated, “There is a balm between the North and South Side of Milwaukee. A balm that heals the sick and the suffering. This victory doesn’t stop with Saint Francis but continues with Saint Joes, Columbia Saint Mary’s, with all of the Ascension systems. In fact, with all of the health systems, we are serving note today. So I will say to everyone here today, to all of our civic leaders to get on board. To Mayor Johnson, get on board. To all city, state and national officials to get on board. To finally put people over profits. Health over wealth. Individuals and families over systems.”

#MilwaukeeWI #Healthcare

Milwaukee, WI – On Friday, March 31, the Common Council’s Public Safety and Health Commission unanimously passed a resolution urging Ascension Wisconsin to reconsider the closure of the Labor and Delivery (L&D) unit at St. Francis Hospital. The St. Francis L&D was the only department of its kind within a roughly 10 mile radius. The hospital serves a predominantly Latino and immigrant community on Milwaukee's Southside, including many Spanish- and Rohingya-only speakers. The resolution also calls on Ascension Wisconsin to establish a one-year moratorium on any downsizing or service reductions at Milwaukee healthcare sites.

The Coalition to Save St. Francis Hospital mobilized representatives from its various member organizations to offer public testimony at Friday’s meeting. All speakers delivered powerful testimonies that connected various threads in this struggle. They highlighted the dangerous conditions Ascension has created inside St. Francis for its patients and workers. They spoke about the challenges the closure of the L&D unit poses for the predominantly oppressed nationality community, as well as its connections to the closures Ascension made at St. Joseph Hospital five years ago.

“Pregnant people on the south side have to find their way across town somehow, by bus or ambulance, the barriers of cost and time be darned. After all, that’s not Ascension’s problem. Ground ambulance bills are the patient’s responsibility, even after the No Surprises Act became law. It is Ascension’s responsibility to provide a public service, though, and that responsibility is why Ascension can operate as a non-profit,” said Jamie Lucas, the Executive Director of Wisconsin Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals (WFNHP) 5000, in the opening statement of the committee meeting.

Lucas continued, “Despite this obligation to the public, Ascension made this decision to cut services in private. In fact, they’ve failed to provide any proof that they informed patients of this supposedly well thought-out, clinical decision they claim to be validated by the data.”

Many allies of the workers and community spoke as well, including representatives from immigrants' rights and faith-based organizations.

“We have a very diverse community [on the Southside] and we're very passionate about these sorts of issues. And as constituents there, we've paid a lot of money in taxes to this hospital, so how is it that they're going to slash these services that we deserve,” said Mario Ramirez of Voces de la Frontera with English translation provided by Alan Chavoya of the Milwaukee Alliance.

Reverend Joseph Jackson of Milwaukee Inner City Allied for Hope (MICAH) spoke next: “We are concerned that the Labor and Delivery unit at St. Francis has been shut down and removed. The question that I've been grappling with is where have all the hospitals gone that serve our communities in the Southside and the Northside, our Black and Latino communities? We call for the Ascension system to do what is just and to do what is right.”

Moreover, these different testimonies provided a pattern regarding Ascension’s greedy playbook.  Despite being one of the most profitable Catholic “non-profit” healthcare entities in the country, Ascension has been sneakily shutting down hospitals by starting with silent closures of units, most often the L&D unit to start, over a period of time that culminates with an ultimate closure of the hospital. When they closed the L&D unit at St. Francis in December, it appeared that this was the course of action being laid out for yet another hospital.

“Ascension had plenty of opportunities for communication and whiffed on them all. They didn't let me know about it until last minute and I'm the Alderman of the district. They didn't let the staff know about it, and they certainly didn't let the community know about it,” said Scott Spiker, Alderman of the district which the hospital resides in. “And they did it right before Christmas, which, if you're running an ops operation, well done; if you're trying to serve the community, terribly done.”

Ascension believed they would be able to carry out their plans unimpeded. However, they didn’t count on a fighting union with strong community support. Led by the workers represented by a resurgent WFNHP Local 5000 and invested community members, the Coalition to Save St. Francis Hospital has turned up the pressure on Ascension in Milwaukee. The united front represented by these forces has hosted a number of actions, ranging from press conferences to pickets outside Ascension Wisconsin CEO Bernie Sherry's Milwaukee residence, with the expressed purpose of reopening the L&D unit at St. Francis and addressing the many concerns around safe staffing and higher pay.

Media outlets have also been quick to shed light on Ascension’s deplorable actions, broadening the scope of the narrative beyond just the St. Francis location. Now, elected officials are also throwing their support behind the Coalition’s efforts, including U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, who released a damning statement shaming Ascension for their harmful practices.

All of the negative publicity being heaped upon Ascension Wisconsin as a direct result of the combined efforts of the workers and their community allies is yielding significant results. Ascension Wisconsin’s internal leadership has been purged since the fight over the future of St. Francis began in earnest in December. The company recently announced the sudden departure of Bernie Sherry as regional CEO and several other high-level corporate team members, including the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Nursing Officer, the Market Chief Human Resources Executive, and the Director of Communications.

While these corporate departures represent a resounding victory for the Coalition, the fight continues to reopen the L&D unit and to protect against further reduction in services at St. Francis Hospital. What's been made clear so far to the hospital workers and their allies is that when they fight, they win. The next step in this struggle is getting the anti-closure resolution passes by Milwaukee's Common Council. The issue will be put to a vote at their upcoming meeting on April 18. The Coalition will be mobilizing once again to ensure that the City takes a stand against this attack on workers and residents.

#MilwaukeeWI #Healthcare

According to an article in WCTV, an anonymous employee of Tallahassee Memorial Hospital said that their team was told not to log in on February 3 and haven't been allowed to log in since. This situation was especially difficult for those without any PTO left, who feared they would be in financial trouble without earning pay.

It's appalling that a multi-million dollar hospital would be willing to sacrifice their employees' financial well-being.

It's clear from the numbers that Tallahassee Memorial Hospital (TMH) is well-off company. According to CauseIq, in 2020, the hospital had revenue of $704,494,918, and President and CEO G Mark O'Bryant earned $1,225,694.

However, their non-union, low-wage workers make significantly less than the national average. For example, service technicians at TMH make $9.47 an hour, switchboard operators make $9.25 an hour, and data center technicians make $12.46 an hour. This is 44% lower than the national average.

What's more, TMH pays the city of Tallahassee just one dollar a year for leasing buildings and land owned by the city. Despite this enormous wealth, TMH is rated a D hospital by Leapfrog Group's Hospital Safety Grade. According to their report, for every 1000 people treated at TMH, 172.29 have died from treatable serious complications.

For TMH to force workers to use their PTO for something that is not their fault is wrong. Workers need sick and vacation time PTO. According to the United States Department of Labor, the U.S. already ranks second worst for paid time off, behind only Micronesia. In comparison to other developed countries, we are far behind in terms of providing our workers with paid time off.

Companies like TMH prioritize their bottom line over their employees' well-being. Companies like TMH should be forced to provide their employees with adequate paid sick leave. The Economic Policy Institute found that only 33% of workers in the United States are provided with paid sick leave, which can lead to people working sick or even forgoing needed medical care.

It is unclear when the cybersecurity attack on Tallahassee Memorial Hospital will end, but something certainly needs to be done to protect the workers. If the hospital had a union, the workers would have protection and could fight for their rights.

Unions empower workers to negotiate with employers in an organized fashion. This increases their chances of success and ensures that their concerns are heard. Furthermore, unions can provide legal support in the event of any disputes between workers and employers.

The workers at TMH have the power to make a difference – by uniting and forming a union, they can fight for their rights and ensure their voices are heard.

#TallahasseeFL #Healthcare

New York, NY – On December 30, nurses at eight hospitals, including New York City’s largest, representing approximately 16,000 members submitted their ten-day notice to strike beginning January 9. As of Monday, January 9, all but three hospitals have reached a tentative agreement. This means that nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) are beginning their strike at four different locations.

Nurses throughout the city are fighting for a decent union contract.

While building up towards the strike, nurses have repeated time and time again that their primary concerns are severe understaffing which leads to poor patient care. Their goal with this contract is to ensure patients are not left alone due to nurses being overworked, overtired and overwhelmed.

Currently, Mount Sinai Hospital alone has over 500 nursing vacancies. This results in nurses taking on too many patients, such as in the neonatal intensive care unit, where they are forced to take on more sick babies that they can safely care for – sometimes up to three when the standard is one, maybe two babies at a time. At Montefiore, there are 760 nursing vacancies, which means that nurses are sometimes in charge of 20 patients when the standard is one nurse per three patients.

Executives of these hospitals are running smear campaigns calling nurses negligent and saying they’re abandoning their patients. All the while, the hospital executives are making hundreds of thousands in their salaries and refusing to hire more nurses to safely care for their patients. Hospital executives are the ones being negligent.

Matt Allen, an RN from Mount Sinai Hospital and a member of NYSNA said, “We felt abandoned by hospital management when we worked around the clock, facing death and suffering on a 9/11-level scale every single day at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic without enough staff or PPE – at the same time that Mount Sinai’s CEO worked from the comfort of his vacation home. During one of our union contract negotiation sessions, a manager had the audacity to tell us that he has not stepped foot in the hospital in more than two years due to the pandemic.”

And instead of hiring new full-time nurses, hospitals have hired scabs at $300 an hour rather than negotiate the terms that NYSNA put forward.

NYSNA demands are the following: “Safe staffing; fair wages to recruit and retain enough nurses for safe patient care; no cuts to our benefits, including the healthcare benefits that keep us healthy and at the bedside; better health and safety protections; and, community benefits, including a voice in local healthcare services and a local training and apprentice program to train the next generation of nurses.”

To support New York nurses on this historic strike, please find them in the following locations:

Montefiore Moses: 111 East 210th St, Bronx, NY

Montefiore Weiler: 1825 Eastchester Rd., Bronx, NY

Montefiore Hutch: 1250 Waters Pl, Bronx, NY

Mount Sinai Hospital: 1 Gustave Levy Pl, Madison & 99th St, NY, NY

The pickets begin at 6 a.m. and go until the late evening.

Support striking nurses to demand better patient care.

#NewYorkNY #Healthcare #strike #Strikes #NewYorkStateNursesAssociationNYSNA