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A picket by NUHW members at Keck-USC hospital and clinics wer covered by many local news outlets including FoxLA, KCBS, KNBC, Telemundo, and the Daily Trojan. The picket took place after Keck-USC made a contract proposal that would have frozen salaries for 62 percent of NUHW members.
NUHW President Emeritus Sal Rosselli praised Joe Biden’s record on workers’ rights in a story in The Hill about how unions view the upcoming presidential race.
ABC News reported that Democrats in California have agreed to delay a minimum wage increase for about 426,000 healthcare workers as part of a larger plan to close an estimated $46.8 billion shortfall. Healthcare workers were supposed to get a raise July 1, part of a plan to gradually increase their pay to $25 per hour over the next decade. Now, if approved by the Legislature next week, they could get that raise on Oct. 15 — but only if California’s revenues between July and September are at least 3 percent higher than what officials have estimated. If that doesn’t happen, the raise won’t start until Jan. 1, 2025 at the latest.
In a unanimous vote, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved new indoor heat regulations, which will take effect after review by the Office of Administrative Law. Under the new regulations, KQED reported that most employers must keep workplace temperatures below 87 degrees when feasible. If it’s not feasible, workers’ heat exposure should be reduced by using protective equipment or changing employees’ shifts.
California will evaluate the outsourcing of medical and mental health care services at state prisons and hospitals with an audit request suggesting it costs the state up to three times more for contracted medical staff compared to using state employees, the Sacramento Bee reported. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee’s approval of Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal’s request comes on the heels of Governor Newsom’s release of his proposed May revisions to fill a remaining current fiscal year gap of $27.6 billion, in which Newsom called for the elimination of 10,000 unfilled state positions for a savings of $762.5 million to the state. Lowenthal notes that the medical and mental health workforce at the Department of State Hospitals, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Department of Developmental Services, face “unsafe staffing shortages.”
KSBW reported that the Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital board voted 5-0 in favor of entering formal sale negotiations with Insight, a private company from Michigan. The vote does not finalize a purchase deal. Community members expressed fear of losing control of the only hospital in San Benito County, including San Benito County Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki, who said the board’s vote was disappointing and goes against what some in the community wanted. The other option was for the board to enter a Joint Powers Agreement with San Benito County.
Healthcare workers ages 18 to 29 are experiencing added stress and burnout caused by workplace racism and discrimination, according to a survey by the African American Research Collaborative, in partnership with the Commonwealth Fund. The poll covering hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient care such as urgent care centers, mental health and addiction treatment centers and community or school health centers reveals that 64 percent of younger healthcare workers reported witnessing patients face racism or discrimination based on their race or ethnicity compared to 47 percent of all healthcare workers. Thirty percent of younger healthcare workers reported feeling “a lot of stress” from dealing with racism and discrimination compared to 16 percent of all healthcare workers, Becker’s Hospital Review reported.
