We had great turnout and lots of energy on our picket lines for Day 1 of our open-ended strike. More than 500 NUHW members walked the picket line at Los Angeles Medical Center and many more picketed at Fontana, Anaheim, and San Diego. Workers, such as, Zhane Sandoval and Maria Favela Thompson talked on social media about why they’re on strike. Danealia Maretka spoke from the LAMC picket line about the lack of time to perform all of her patient care responsibilities. And Kassaundra Gutierrez Thompson explained the struggles that she and her colleagues face in Kaiser’s factory-line approach to mental health care.
We have tremendous support from our fellow union members. More than 200 UNAC members joined our picket line in Los Angeles. We also have the support of the 800,000 members of the L.A. Labor Federation and the 2 million members of the California Labor Federation.
Many local elected officials joined us on the picket lines, proudly (and often loudly) defying Kaiser’s request that they stay neutral. Some of them shared their own terrible experiences with Kaiser’s mental health care system. And two of the most powerful elected officials in the state ramped up pressure on Kaiser to get serious about reaching a fair settlement. California State Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire sent a letter today to Kaiser CEO Greg Adams, requesting that Kaiser’s “comprehensive contingency plan” for the strike “ensure that patients keep their scheduled appointments so their care is not compromised.”
And Congressman Adam Schiff, who is likely to win election to the U.S. Senate in November, supported us with a post on X: “Kaiser’s mental health workers are on strike for better patient care, fair wages, and pensions. I stand with the National Union of Healthcare Workers in their fight — because quality mental health care requires quality pay and benefits.”
Today’s actions earned extensive media coverage, including a national story in CNN, a statewide story in CalMatters, and a prominent story in the Los Angeles Times. The strike was also covered by the San Diego Union Tribune, and the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which includes the Orange County Register and many local papers throughout the region.
Every major TV news station in San Diego and Los Angeles covered the strike Monday. That includes KCAL, NBC-4, Fox-11, ABC-7, Telemundo, and Univision in Los Angeles, and NBC-7, ABC-10, CBS-8, Fox-5, and Univision in San Diego. The strike was also covered by KNX Radio in Los Angeles, KFI News Talk Radio in Orange County, and NPR affiliates, KPPC in Los Angeles and KPBS in San Diego. KBAK in Bakersfield is also doing a story today in advance of our picket line there on Thursday.
See the gallery of photos below, and see more photos and videos on NUHW’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
