Another day, Another picket.
Today was loud and festive day on the picket line. People were enjoying the sunny October weather.
There was a slightly larger group that made it to the front of the hospital. I think more of the strikers realize it is important to be visible at all the hospital entrances. Our crew at the front has taken special interest in the construction gate. Apparently on Saturday, some union workers stopped delivering some construction supplies after being informed of our strike. It is great when people honor our picket line.
Not only are people getting used to our presence, we've developed a following! Those fake motorized cable cars that tourists ride to see the "sights" have begun driving by the lobby entrance picket line.
Today the driver drove by and said, "Ladies and Gentleman this is a genuine San Francisco Protest" and then asked the strikers, "How many weeks has it been?"
We told him and the tourists "3 Weeks!"
Hopefully the strike will end before we make it into the next Frommer's Travel Guide.
San Francisco is a very different Community which makes it a very different Market. People who ignored us at the beginning are now stopping to ask us our side of the story. None of them wants a CNA with 18 patients. None of them wants to stay longer in the ER because there are not enough people to clean and disinfect the beds. But all of them want do want a warm meal served by our great dietary workers.
People got their strike pay today. At the table were applications for temporary work at other union hospitals. People were well informed of their options and seemed to have made their decisions about their finances. I think most people feel this strike is worth the sacrifice. I do.
People talked a lot about Jesse Jackson coming to our rally on Wednesday. We are hoping the media spotlight will encourage movement.
We want to go back to work. We want to give the patients everything they need to recover. Clean Rooms and Beds. Warm food. Assistance with walking, eating and personal needs.
The recent radio ads that a friend mentioned where Dr Brotman allegedly says that the union is trying to make medical decisions that should be made by doctors are disappointing. We just want to be heard when there isn't enough of us to get the job done. A doctor makes the decision to admit a patient to the hospital--a place that should have clean beds, warm food and CNAs answering call lights in a reasonable ammount of time. The workers are the union and we are the ones supporting the decisions of the doctors by demanding an appropiate resources for patient care.
We want to do this with a Contract. C'mon Sutter. Just Say Yes!!!
-- Tom
Hi,
A friend of mine does a folk song that I think you would be interested in hearing. I used it with a peace rally video, check it out, it takes about 4 minutes to download.
http://markdilleywashereat.castpost.com/34130.html
Best, Mark
Posted by: Mark | October 08, 2005 at 01:00 PM
hi guys,
just wanted to talk a little about my day "on the line", or should i say my day off the line. after signing in and picketing for a little while a large group of picketers went down to city hall to a hearing on the strike with the board of supervisors and the option for public comments. 3 vans of people rolled in only to find that the hearing was delayed and we had to wait for the previous hearings ... and i mean wait!.... we finally got in the chambers after 2.5 hours. as an east bay resident, i had never been in city hall before and it was a beautiful old building... but now back to the hearing. the hospital did not care enough to send anyone but a peon flunkie with no decision making power at all. she basically lied and spoke the sutter line like it had been rehearsed for hours... never mind that it was a bold face lie and that it pissed off both the union crowd and the board of supervisors who basically told her to quit wasting their time with lies. there were very few friends of sutter there,though. mostly neigbors who had complained about the noise level "in the hood". i do understand how hard it must be for them with the constant chanting and noise, but what i dont understand is peoples uncanny ability to blame the picketers for this. it is true that we are making the noise, but what else is there. we have tried every other avenue to get a decent contract!!! and none of them have worked... mostly due to sutters complete disregard for our situation and really, the situation of the paitents,our coworkers etc. it is clear they dont care and they could have had this over with long before now. they could also do things that would make the strike more pallatable to their neighbors...like not bring the scab busses in at 6 am! ...like they think their wont be any loud picketing if they bring them in in the early morning...please....
basically yesterday was a lesson in how indiffent sutter and cpmc management is to our plight, the neighbors plight and the plight of the patients!!! the other thing that was especially moving for me was the 4 nurses who got up and spoke about the decaying conditions in there and how much they appreciate the work of their coworkers. i wish i could have thanked them personally, but they left before i could talk to them. see ya later!
Posted by: emily stone | October 18, 2005 at 06:33 AM