well, we had a rally last night at the california campus yesterday. it is funny, each rally seems to take on a feel all its own. yesterdays rally was not as big, but it was really moving! there were speakers from several different unions who gave big checks to the "adopt a family" fund. thousands of dollars....and the speechs that came with the checks were "from the heart". they also spoke of a fundraiser breakfast where the food and supplies would be supplied by another union(sorry, i forgot the name of the union...please forgive me), and the proceeds would go to UHW wests strike fund. last but not least we heard about the new plan of support from san franciscos board of supervisors... which is quite wonderful, if i do say so myself.... and that is to invite all the other sf area hospitals (kaiser, chw, etc), to city hall to discuss the "future of healthcare in san francisco". so instead of waiting for sutter to show up we will exclude sutter and deal ONLY with hospitals who have already signed a decent contract and show some respect for their employees. i like that idea. there are other fish in the sea!!!!
today, i will not be on the line but will go, instead, to alta bates hospital in berkeley, where i used to work. i will be talking to some of the workers about what it is like to be on the strike line and awnser any questions they may have. should be interesting. guess they could be going out soon, as well.
lastly, i heard from one of the employees from st lukes hospital, who will be joining our lines. that also was moving, to hear her talk about her experiences at st lukes, our new campus. (ceo of st lukes was recently fired and replaced by the ceo of sutter...dr martin brotman).
i think the thing that is most impressive to me today, as i sit here and write this blog, is how strong my union brothers and sisters are. there is still plenty of resolve on the line to "go the distance"... do "whatever it takes" and so on. the strength and power in that is a beauty to behold, if you ask me.
see ya later
emily
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