Sutter Strikers Blog

Another note from the Picket Line

well, it has been a few days since i have posted. mostly because when i get home i am tired. oh to be young again! ... anyway, yesterday was a pretty interesting day. started out just like any other day on the line, but ended quite differently!. after a huge and great demonstration at the pacific campus. a few of us got arrested for trespassing on hospital property. this was a new experience. not easy getting into a paddy wagon with your hands restrained behind your back. we were in the police station and instead of chanting "i'm fired up, cant take it no more" like we do on the line, i  and then we started chanting "i'm tied up cant take it no more". i dont know if we actually got untied earlier, but the time sure passed faster! i am defineately a "humor makes things easier" sort of girl.

also, saw the woman who comes 3 times a week for  dialysis that i had met on the line earlier this week. for those of you who didnt read my other blog from before.. this woman touched me because she came up and signed our petetion earlier and supported us when she was sick and having to come to our hospital. anyway, i digress.. she came up to me and said hi again and we had another little chat. looks like it will be a regular event for me and i will look forward to it.

also saw the son of one of the workers who comes with his mom occasionally to the picket line. he went to "show and tell" (or whatever they call it these days) and talked about what it was like to be on the picket line. he also said he showed everybody his picture from the union flyer that someone had took.

was also quite interested  when a woman came up to the picket captain and discreetly handed a disposable camera to him with all the pictures used up. she had come from inside the hospital and i am very curious what the pictures are like and about.
well, thats about all for today. catch you later

-- emily stone

Wednesday at Pacific Campus

Wow.  Today was busy on the Pacific Campus picket line.

We did our picketing in the still gorgeous September sun.  People were excited because finally we were having a rally at our hospital.

The strikers were happy to pile into our union vans and go to the Cal & Davies Campuses for rallies, but there is something special about having support at your own hospital.  Having people come in from around town and the East Bay to show our bosses that we were sticking together was awesome.

I almost missed the rally.  I had gone home to take care of personal business.  On my way back I found a Datebook/personal organizer.  I didn't want to be late but I wanted to do the right thing.

Quick note from the Picket Line

well, here is a quick note from the picket line.... my first night time picketing... and i can tell you without a doubt that resolve is very high!!!! walking the picket line in the night time is a very different experience. not as much action in terms of people going in and out, not as much chatting with them , bitter cold wind as you picket. i can tell you this! you have to really want to be on the line... it is cold and hard work. yet night after night there are members that do it and they do it for one reason only....because they want a contract and they want to go back to work and give the patients the care they deserve. the way i look at it, and you probably wouldn't have an argument from the people i talked to, it's not that hard. all we want is for sutter to sign the contract that was proposed by the federal mediator. they are the ones that are holding things back, depite what you may hear from them.

i also could not help but notice, how much more support we are getting from the streets of cars honking, giving the "thumbs up", saying things like "hang in there". i am getting more support by total strangers who are passing by than my own employer, from whom i get no support at all.

i'm over this ugly strike, sutter, just sign the darn contract and let us get back where we belong.... TO WORK, WITH A SIGNED CONTRACT!!! signed by you that is, we have already agreed to sign it. so no matter what things you say the truth is YOU,SUTTER... are responsible for the deplorable conditions and for the poor patient care that is going on inside on a daily basis.

-- emily stone

Conditions inside, bad and getting worse

All the security guards in the world can't stop cell phones, email and the good old fashioned grapevine from revealing what's going on in the struck hospitals. And the picture being painted from inside is not pretty. At Sutter California Campus, one of our picket captains shared a handwritten note with me that was passed to him from an RN who works in labor and delivery. "We usually have one to three EVS workers taking care of needs in labor & delivery. Now we have 27 scabs, and still they can't get the trash taken out," said the writer, noting it took more than seven hours to get overflowing garbage removed from the ante partum unit. The RN reported the hospital was having trouble with food distribution. "Bedside meals are running very late, and diabetics are being sent regular diets."

On this blog, UHW member Emily Stone, a longtime psychiatric technician at Pacific Campus, reported from the line that she's in contact with the inside. What her sources describe from inside is chaos and unsanitary conditions. "You learn how important a clean bathroom is when you're sick and hospitalized," a Pacific Campus patient relayed to Emily. "Yesterday, on the lines, I talked with a woman who had dialysis three times weekly, and I was touched by her support for us in the midst of her own troubles."

Daily incidents such as these show that UHW members have the support of their patients in the fight against Sutter CPMC.

Another comment on this blog, from a six-year CPMC nursing aide, asks why "it took a scab replacement four hours to do one round of vitals, when the usual time is 60-75 minutes? Thanks to cell phones, we get calls from inside telling us about deteriorating conditions and inadequate care. We know about garbage piling up until it's picked up by $45 an hour RNs—who are learning fast why we're on strike."

Do you have CPMC horror stories to share? Use this blog to tell us what you're hearing and seeing.

Sal Rosselli

San Francisco -- a union town

My longtime friend Warren Hinckle -- and Melman, his loyal basset hound -- dropped by our press conference Tuesday at the Cathedral Hotel. Our Sutter CPMC strikers gathered there for a couple of reasons -- to protest the hotel’s housing of the scab force brought in to work the three struck hospitals; and to welcome UNITE HERE Local 2 Pres. Mike Casey, who took the occasion to announce a boycott of Cathedral Hotel, which, not incidentally, is owned by Sutter Corp.

A living legend in our city, Warren’s been editing magazines and newspapers, writing hard-hitting columns and exposés and generally raising literary and other kinds of hell for over four decades. He offered some thoughts regarding our dispute with Sutter CPMC and where his media colleagues stand on things. "This is an extremely righteous strike. The hospital workers have tremendous support among the press in this city," Warren said. "They know a real union when they see it. They know a real grievance when they see it. And you got a lot of silent support in the press corps. Maybe not the editors, but the working press is all for the strike and for you."

Insightful stuff from one who knows. What do you think?

Local 2’s Casey had stinging words for Sutter, which wants to raze its Van Ness Ave. building, abandon 180 longtime Local 2 workers and replace the hotel with another Sutter hospital. "This company is way out of step with this community. This company is a pariah on this community," Casey declared. "Unless they can conform with our San Francisco standards, they should get out of the city."

City Supervisor Chris Daly, whose district takes in the hotel, picked up where Casey left off. "If you’re going to throw Local 2 workers out of their jobs and build your hospital here, you better do what’s right for the workers and show respect for members of both Local 2 and UHW. This is our city. This is a union town."

At the press conference, I visited with striking members, including Fred Wilkes, who works in labor & delivery at California Pacific. Fred’s a picket captain at his worksite and says he’s hearing from the grapevine that conditions are very messy inside. "They need us in there, doing our job and taking care our patients," he said.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on any of this. Blog away.

In unity,

Sal Rosselli

Striker resolve very high

The Sutter CPMC strike is not my first strike, but this is my first blog. Our members know what this strike is about, and they know the truth about what is going on on the picket line and in the hospitals. I want everyone to know the facts. That’s why I’m writing this blog.

What this strike is all about is the members.

I’ve spent lots of time on the lines since the strike’s start last Tuesday, and I’m moved and inspired by the dedication and resolve of our members. What I see is incredible unity of purpose to make renegade Sutter Health Corporation adhere to patient care and work standards in place at every other major employer we bargain with.

Members like Hugh Lucas tell me about their enthusiasm to take on Sutter on issues of patient care and to establish a greater voice at work for themselves and their patients. “We all want to return to our patients,” says Hugh, picket captain at the California campus. He’s seen it all at Sutter and the way he put it to me sums up what a lot of other strikers told me: “I am totally committed to getting a just settlement, and my co-workers share this sentiment.”

It’s this spirit that encourages me and makes me know we’re going to win.

And it’s not just the CPMC strikers. As I walked the lines, Sutter members from all the hospitals were there. Caroline Wandrick from Sutter Solano in Vallejo told me, “I walk to let Sutter know that if they take one of us on they take all of us on.”

Doug Jones from Sutter Eden in Castro Valley says, “This is the beginning of our final push toward an industry standard contract.”

Our workers get it. This is not about wages and benefits, but about the careers and future of our Sutter members and the kind of care they’re able to provide for their patients.

I’m meeting old friends on the line, getting reacquainted with others I’ve not seen for years, some as far back as the 1988 strike against Affiliated Hospitals in San Francisco. I feel privileged to be a part of this historic strike because it holds so much promise. I join strikers in feeling secure that there will be change at Sutter stemming from our mutual trust and collective will to do what we must to win.

We have picked the right place to make our stand. In San Francisco, we are among friends and allies. Elected leaders are solidly with us. Our members are strong and united. We’re poised for victory.

So that’s why I’m writing this blog. I invite everyone who reads this to add your own thoughts, questions, ideas. I look forward to carrying on a discussion with the broader community that supports our courageous Sutter members.

Sal Rosselli

Will Sutter accept fed mediator's proposal?

A federal mediator has made a new proposal in order to avoid a strike. UHW has accepted the proposal. Do you think Sutter will accept?