Harrison Community Caravan Takes the Streets of Kitsap!
/The UFCW 21 Harrison ProTech Bargaining Team was joined by UFCW 21 Kitsap Movement Builders, UFCW 21 Doctor’s Clinic & grocery members, as well as the Kitsap Central Labor Council and political and community leaders for an inspiring, powerful, creative and ultimately very noisy action from Bremerton to Silverdale on Tuesday, July 14.
UFCW 21 members shared what is happening in our workplaces, the risks to our safety and how we are doing everything we can (including making our own personal protective equipment) to keep ourselves and our colleagues safe. We asked community to join our campaign asking CHI to do better in terms of health care, wages, PPE, and other important safety protections. Then about 40 cars decorated with streamers, paint, and signs saying things like “Protect Health Care Workers, Protect Our Community” and “Honk for Healthcare Workers” circled Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, getting waves from health care workers on break and passers by. We then beeped our way, in formation, over to Silverdale, where we did the same thing at Harrison Medical Center there.
We wrapped up the action with a reminder for everyone to sign on to the petition which health care members will be delivering at the end of July. Please sign and share, so that CHI has no doubt that the Kitsap Community is horrified about what is happening to our health care workers and expects CHI to do the right thing!
Hear what UFCW 21 members had to say that day:
“My kids were born at Harrison. Health care means a lot. As a CNA, I’m one of the lowest-paid people in the hospital, and I do most of the patient care. I’ve been on the bargaining team ever since I started, 21 years ago. I fight for the little guy. We have over 200 people that are CNAs in the hospital, we’re the biggest group out of the Pro-Tech group, and I fight for them tooth and nail every single day because that’s how I care about the CNAs, that’s how I care about the workers, that’s how I care about Pro-Tech.”
“We as health care workers are the ones that really have the knowledge, not the administration. The biggest thing in this pandemic that’s been really scary, as a health care worker, is that we’re now carrying around our PPE, which most of us have had to go out and purchase ourselves. We’re in the ER and we’re wearing these masks for more than 3 weeks, masks that were originally meant to be to be one-time use per patient. Six months ago, we were changing out our gowns, goggles, masks, between every patient and now we’re using it for weeks on end. I’m just asking for the community to support us on this. In order for us to take care of you, we need your support to take care of ourselves, too.”
“We are also bargaining for a fair contract right now. The Doctor’s Clinic is owned by CHI, so we’re all in this together, and they’re doing the same things to us. They said we don’t deserve hazard pay because this is the job we signed up for. Let me tell you—this is not the job we signed up for! I’ve been here for Ebola, I was there for H1N1, this is a whole new world for everyone. This beautiful garbage bag I’m wearing today? I’ve been making these myself, for our own protective equipment. We didn’t get the kind of protective gowns we were supposed to have, so I took some garbage bags and figure out how to iron them together. I’m very proud of this, but I’m also extremely angry. I did it to protect myself and my coworkers, but I should not have had to do this. I bought the garbage bags myself. If we go down, we can’t protect the community, so we need to be protected.”
Monique Pyles
“We really have each other’s back here in Kitsap!”
-Naomi Oligario, Port Orchard Safeway, UFCW 21 member & event emcee
“I’ve been in the grocery industry for a long time; this is a tough time for essential workers. We’re keeping our communities fed, supplied, healthy, and cared for in the middle of a global emergency, and we’re proud to do it. But we also need to be kept safe at our jobs. As a patient of this Kitsap health care system, I know the safety of these health care workers affects my safety. If me and my coworkers get sick, our community food supply chain gets messed up. I know if health care workers get sick and can’t work, our access to good quality health care is affected. Essential workers in this stand together, stand for each other, and stand for the community.”
Our community car caravan passes Harrison Medical Center to let them know Kitsap stands with health care workers!
