This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA.
This Tuesday, January 28th, marks the 100th day that Kaiser Southern California mental health workers have been on strike. Kaiser management and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), the union representing striking mental health workers, have not shown any signs of being close to signing an agreement, though bargaining has resumed this month for the first time since October.
In the meantime, Kaiser mental health workers have continued fighting on the picket line. They persist in their demands for higher wages, increased staffing, longer break times, and improved pension benefits.
The ongoing strike has created a critical gap in mental health care at the same time Los Angeles has been devastated by the recent wildfires. Due to Kaiser management’s insistence on not meeting the workers’ demands, many therapy patients experiencing trauma from the effects of the recent fires have not been able to see their normal therapist.
The intersection of these events — a healthcare workers’ strike and devastating wildfires — show how ordinary working people suffer under capitalism. This system cares about profit above all else — even if it means halting access to mental healthcare or destroying the environment.
Click here to read the article printed in the 01-29-25 Healthcare Newsletter
