Striking Kaiser mental health workers in Los Angeles went from marching in picket lines to helping organize relief lines for wildfire victims earlier this month.
After canceling their picket lines throughout Los Angeles County, many striking workers, who include mental health therapists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and psychologists, decided to use their free time to help their fellow Angelenos.
“It kind of gives you a reality check,” Linda Cortes said. “It’s a reminder to be grateful for what you have no matter what.”
Cortes and several colleagues went to Santa Anita racetrack, where they said there were so many donated items that it looked like a giant “swap meet.” The workers helped sort toys and clothing and got a few words of encouragement from other volunteers who said, “we’re rooting for you.”
Another group of striking workers set up food and distributed items at 9thirtyLA, a performance space that was being used as a temporary shelter for people displaced by the fire.
During one volunteer shift, Adriana Webb, a medical social worker, and Kassaundra Gutierrez-Thompson, a therapist, spoke to NPR reporter Katia Riddle, and were featured on All Things Considered.
“A lot of my patients live in that area, and I’m very worried about them,” Webb told the reporter.” I worry about who’s going to be helping them process through that and also the mental and psychological needs that come from having your safety and security ripped away from you.”
Both Webb and Gutierrez-Thompson said they were glad to be involved in the relief effort, but they wished they could be with their patients.
“Yeah, it’s awful,” Webb said. “I feel so terrible. But I also know that by being complicit in this system, nothing’s ever going to change.”
Both mental health professionals are on the NUHW Bargaining Team that has been fighting to end the deeply entrenched systemic disparities that leave Kaiser without the staffing necessary to provide care that meets clinical standards or legal requirements.
When bargaining resumed earlier this month, Kaiser’s negotiating team made no movement toward a settlement.
“As a Kaiser therapist, it often feels like I have two jobs: treating patients and advocating for them in Kaiser’s understaffed, inadequate mental health care system,” Kassaundra Gutierrez-Thompson said immediately after the bargaining session. “Kaiser’s behavior… throughout our negotiations is a stark reminder that even now at a moment of intense collective trauma, Kaiser executives still do not value the work that we do and the people we serve.”
Kaiser’s refusal to provide its Southern California mental health professionals the same patient care time as their Northern California counterparts and the same pensions as nearly every other Kaiser employee continues to draw consternation.
Since the majority of state legislators signed onto letters calling on Kaiser to settle a contract on NUHW’s terms, more support letters have poured in from State Superintendent of Public Instructions Tony Thurmond, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, State Senator Scott Wiener, California Teachers Association, ILWU, San Diego Educational Association, and the unions representing the Los Angeles Unified School District.
