Industrial Workers of the World - Health Service Workers Industrial Union 610

I Am Tired of Healthcare

x344543 — Sun, 09 Aug 2015 20:51:46 +0000

By Luz Sierra - Miami IWW, August 5, 2015

Five years had passed since I first began working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). A CNA is a health care provider that assists Registered Nurses (RN’s). They are the ones considered to do the “dirty work” in healthcare: changing, bathing, feeding, and providing any form of assistance to patients that RN’s do not have the time or opportunity to provide in today’s fast-paced and multi-tasking health care environment. Through providing care to patients, I have seen many of the atrocities of today’s society, especially with mental health.

The past year I was offered a patient companion (sitter) position at a local hospital after being laid off at my previous workplace for organizing. It is a pretty chill job. Depending on the census, I either provide one-to-one care or one-to-two patients care who are at risk to fall and are under Baker Act (a Florida mental health law that forces a patient to remain in the facility and to be under supervision up to 72 hours because of potential harm to self or others), or high risk patients likely to be injured. Throughout the majority of my employment there, I have mostly seen patients with mental health disorders. Among them are the elderly that are diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. In my experience, they are not given enough or any treatment at all. They are only given medication that sedates them for hours or they are simply ignored by RN’s. An individual with such an ailment could become very anxious, agitated, and disorientated which leads to many problems. For instance, they often attempt to get out of bed unsafely due to memory loss, they can remove their intravenous therapy (IV) if they are bothered by it, and they will sometimes attempt to physically hurt people they do not recognize as they become anxious and fearful of everyone. The list can go on. Mental health disorders are not easily treated, so there are moments when you will need help from CNA’s, RN’s, or even administration. Unfortunately such help is non-existent at times, like one day at work when I was assigned a patient that had Alzheimer’s and was extremely confused.

On that day I received the patient in a difficult situation. The first moment I arrived to her room, she was already punching and kicking the CNA who was trying to prevent her from getting out of bed. The CNA warned me to be careful since she was very combatant; she wasn’t lying. I spent the first two hours preventing her from getting out of bed while she attempted to repeatedly punch and kick me. Eventually a physical therapist stopped by and walked her to the bathroom and around the room. Afterwards, the nurse provided her medication that calmed and reoriented her. After taking her medication, the patient began to talk to me kindly, telling me about her life until she fell asleep for about thirty minutes. When she woke up, the medication was no longer effective so she was agitated and confused again. She wanted to leave her room, but wasn’t allowed to, so she was pushing and hitting me, and screaming loudly for help. I wanted to back away from her since that’s what you are taught when dealing with an aggravated patient, but I couldn’t as she was trying to get up and placing herself at risk of falling. I called the nurse to tell her what was happening, but all she did was stop by and talk to the patient. When she left, the patient became aggressive again.

During the next three hours I called the nurse five times, but she didn’t do anything other than try to calm the patient through talking to her. There’s no problem with that but if the patient is hurting herself and trying to attack caregivers there should be a better alternative. I am not a big advocate of medication, but in my opinion, it’s better to sedate a patient in order to prevent any further harm if the RN is not going to be there 24/7 and if a patient companion has limited options to prevent a patient from hurting anyone or herself. Luckily, another nurse stopped by and took the patient to visit her husband who was also hospitalized. I was ordered to stay with her as she visited her husband. She was calm for a while, but then became agitated and wanted to leave the room in order to search for her children who weren’t there. I had to take her back to her room where she didn’t want to stay, and spent another three hours walking back and forth from her room to her husband’s room. Along the way she would hit and scream at me while the nursing staff were all watching and did nothing.

Campaign for a Canteen - victory at Birmingham NHS Blood & Transplant centre

x344543 — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:58:21 +0000

Workers at Birmingham's NHS Blood & Transplant centre in Edgbaston have just successfully organised to get a hot food canteen through a popular campaign.

Earlier this year office staff moved into former lab space left empty following cuts and closures. This influx highlighted and reminded people just how poor the existing catering on site was. Years ago there had been a full canteen serving cooked breakfast and the like, but the contract was operated by a local hospital and when that ended, no-one was willing to take it on, so the canteen was closed. Since then all that staff have had is over-priced vending machines which supply only salty, fatty and sugary junk food, and are frequently half empty. The dry sandwiches are universally hated. Considering the employer is the NHS, it seemed not a lot of thought had gone into how what employees eat effects our health, fitness, well-being, energy and concentration - especially those who work shifts.

This issue was something that absolutely everybody felt strongly about, so it was decided that instead of grumbling, which achieves nothing, a Campaign for a Canteen would be launched. The UNISON branch agreed to give the campaign its full backing. A petition was circulated and was signed by all, even visiting managers from other centres. An open meeting was also held so that ideas could be brainstormed to go into a written case.

Members of UNISON, Unite, IWW and also non-union members all came up with very strong arguments. The case was put together and presented to management along with pages of signatures, and a right earful from some of the most fired-up staff! Then, once we had made our case, many of us helped to keep the pressure up by sending the regional manager regular individual emails.

In the end management felt that our case was quite simply so strong and logical on all fronts that the only choice they had was to concede to our demand. Now we will be getting a full serving hatch which will give us access to hot fresh food and fruit and veg. This will be a good boost to morale and hopefully to people's health as well. Birmingham blood centre has lost a lot in the past few years and it's about time that we got something back! But this wasn't a gift - the truth is we wouldn't have got it if we hadn't organised.

Minnesota Progressive - Trade Union Betrayal on Healthcare

x344543 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:22:01 +0000

By Michael Cavlan - from Opednews.com, January 12, 2009.

On January 8, 2009, there was a Press Conference in the Minnesota Capitol in St Paul, organized by a coalition of "Trade Union" and so called "progressive" groups.

The organization included TakeAction Minnesota, AFSCME Council 5, Children's Defense Fund Minnesota, Education Minnesota, ISAIAH, Minnesota Nurses Association, SEIU Minnesota State Council, The AFL-CIO.

The Press Conference was organized to trumpet "coalition representing 350,000 Minnesotans will launch its "Make Health Happen" campaign to reform the state's health care system, which now leaves hundreds of thousands of state residents without health coverage and many thousands more underinsured."

These group of self described "progressives" support the "Minnesota Health Security Act" to be Introduced The group will also unveil the "Minnesota Health Security Act" (MHSA) which charts a clear path to guaranteed affordable health coverage for all Minnesotans, starting with children. It will be introduced in both the House and Senate. The bill is based on the Children's health Security Act, which successfully passed the state House in 2007. The bill's authors, Representative Paul Thissen and Senator Tony Lourey, will participate in the event.

IWW and Friends Prepare to Take on Useless Blood Service Bosses

x344543 — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:27:54 +0000

Originally published at UK Indymedia

The last year saw the IWW and their allies launch a nation-wide campaign to prevent NBS management from enacting dangerous cuts that will only serve to ease their own workload. IWW members in the NBS’s recognised unions (Unison and Unite) have also been at the forefront of the campaign to push the big unions to act against the plans, rather than seemingly roll over and let management do whatever they want.

NBS bosses plan to centralise thirteen blood processing centres into three ‘supercentres’ in Colindale, Manchester and Bristol. This means 600 jobs will be slashed and local economies and labour markets are going to be hit hard. What’s more, the transport of blood will be even more reliant on our already-overcrowded and polluting road system, with many hospitals more than 100 miles from the nearest centre. Put simply, these plans are a danger to workers, communities and patients.

IWW spurs Blood Service fightback

x344543 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:31:45 +0000

January 7th saw the return of MPs to the UK Parliament. It also saw the IWW co-ordinate an international phone blockade. Wobblies chose to celebrate the occasion by sending a message to the Health Minister -Alan Johnson - that cuts to the National Blood Service are notacceptable. Phones were tied up all day as campaigners and supporters from as far afield as Poland, Canada, and the United States, as well as hundreds from around the UK, took part. The IWW in the UK has an active and growing job branch in an NBS processing centre. The action took place ahead of the NHSBT Board meeting on the 10th, where bosses have met to take stock of the management review into their cuts plans.

UK IWW fight against blood service centralisation plans

x344543 — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 07:28:00 +0000

by IWW National Blood Service - IWW; Sunday, Dec 2 2007, 5:36pm
[email protected]">[email protected]

IWW launches second phase of fight against blood service centralisation plans

National Blood Service bosses in England and Wales plan to axe over 600 jobs and put patients lives across the National Health Service at threat.

The campaign, from workers in the National Blood Service and the IWW has become increasingly active, and the IWW is growing in the service. Now the IWW is launching a new phase of the campaign, to counter the employer offensive.

The IWW is fighting the closure of 10 blood processing centres across England. This is the largest campaign yet attempted by the IWW in the UK (BIROC), and has led to large scale regional mobilisations, and the distribution of 55,000 leaflets and 5000 targeted workplace bulletins.

National Blood Service centralisation dispute - Unworkable reconfiguration plans will threaten patient’s lives and jobs

x344543 — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:45:00 +0000

The vital blood processing and distribution service is to be centralised in management cost cutting insanity which will result in blood being transported hundreds of miles by road and skilled workers losing their jobs. This will directly threaten patients’ lives as the blood is driven on congested motorways from the donation centres to the “super centres” and then back out to hospitals.

The NBS in England currently has 13 regional centres which process and test donated blood before redistribution to the hospitals. However this vital service is under threat with management wanting to condense these regional centres into just 3 to cover the whole of England.

Unlike many NHS trusts, the NBS is not in debt, and operates efficiently with committed workers, many of whom have worked there for decades learning their highly specialised skills on the job.

UK IWW launchers campaign at the National Blood Service.

x344543 — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:55:00 +0000

The National Blood Service performs a vital role in collecting blood from donations from 100's of sites daily, testing the blood for Hepatitis, HIV, Malaria and Syphilis and filtering the blood and separating into components. They must then distribute it promptly to hospitals. There are centres that perform these functions in Oxford, Bristol, Southampton, Tooting, Colindale, Brentwood, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Cambridge, Sheffield and Leeds.

Staff have been in industrial dispute with the NBS board of directors and management for about a year, over unworkable reconfiguration plans which will see local processing and testing sites condensed into just three 'supercentres', in Bristol, Manchester and Colindale.

Appeal for Solidarity from Boston IWW Member

x344543 — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 01:11:00 +0000

Hi there. My name is Sara Willig. I am a member of the Boston GMB. You might remember me if you followed the DARE job branch struggles of 2002-4. The situation I’m writing you about tonight is related to that fight, when my coworkers voted to decertify the union about 18 months ago after a campaign of union busting and manipulation by management.

If you didn’t follow the DARE job branch situation, or if you’ve joined more recently, I’m a health care worker. I do a social work job, but without a degree in social work or the higher wages that go along with that degree. Keeps the price down for you, the taxpayer, never mind the State. But mostly it keeps the costs down for the boss. The agency I work for contracts with Massachusetts’ Dept, of Mental Retardation (DMR) and I’m paid to be the case manager for two disabled people. Sometimes I’ve had a caseload of three people. Currently my clients are borderline MR and moderately MR.

The Top 10 Problems with the Current "Crisis" in the Labor Movement

x344543 — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 23:17:00 +0000

Reposted from www.counterpunch.com/demoro07212005.html

As Union Chiefs Head Towards a Showdown Next Week in Chicago, the Leader of One of the Country's Most Vital and Combative Unions Identifies....

The Top 10 Problems with the Current "Crisis" in the Labor Movement

By ROSE ANN DeMOROCalifornia Nurses Association

1. There are no real ideological disputes, in part because the current AFL-CIO leadership and programs were, mostly, put in place by those now challenging them. It appears to be more about egos and an effort by specific unions to anoint themselves as the group who should control the AFL-CIO.

2. No workers or rank and file union members are involved, and it is their labor movement. Much of the discussion is based on recommendations of consultants and Madison Avenue approaches such as branding, polling and focus groups, and controlled blogs, rather than engaging the membership and the public on helping shape the future of the labor movement.

3. No issues affecting the majority of working Americans are being debated declining real wages, the health care crisis, the continued erosion of democracy in the workplace, outsourcing of jobs across the skill and pay spectrum, a deteriorating social safety net, declining support for public education, environmental degradation, social justice and ongoing racial and gender inequality, alienation and disaffection from the political process.