Members "Walk the Line" at Sunset, Walnut Creek
National Desk
September 04, 2009
Just miles away from L.A.'s world-famous wildfires and hundreds of miles north under crystal blue skies, SEIU-UHW members rallied Tuesday to kick off a series of statewide informational pickets protesting management's plan to cut 1,350 of their jobs. The events at Kaiser Sunset and Kaiser Walnut Creek were the first in a series of 20-plus pickets to be held statewide in coming weeks.
Five-hundred union members gathered outside the sprawling Los Angeles hospital facility to support fellow workers who had recently been told by management that their jobs were targeted for elimination and to inform the community of the effect job cuts could have on patient care.
In a strong show of unity at Walnut Creek, over 345 people from divisions throughout the hospital, including environmental services, radiology, pharmacy and others spent their lunch walking the line and fighting to protect jobs. Workers repeatedly questioned how Kaiser could justify eliminating positions, when just last month Kaiser announced excellent financial performance for the second quarter - showing a net income of $620 million, almost twice last year's second quarter total.
"We are here for our patients and for our families. Many of us have children to feed and bills to pay - we can't afford to be out of work," said Martha Depaz, who works as a CNA at Kaiser Sunset
Five-hundred union members gathered outside the sprawling Los Angeles hospital facility to support fellow workers who had recently been told by management that their jobs were targeted for elimination and to inform the community of the effect job cuts could have on patient care.
In a strong show of unity at Walnut Creek, over 345 people from divisions throughout the hospital, including environmental services, radiology, pharmacy and others spent their lunch walking the line and fighting to protect jobs. Workers repeatedly questioned how Kaiser could justify eliminating positions, when just last month Kaiser announced excellent financial performance for the second quarter - showing a net income of $620 million, almost twice last year's second quarter total.
"We are here for our patients and for our families. Many of us have children to feed and bills to pay - we can't afford to be out of work," said Martha Depaz, who works as a CNA at Kaiser Sunset