Since the start of the pandemic (and really, before that), frontline healthcare workers have been rightfully lauded for the tireless work that they have done to keep the healthcare system from cratering in this country. This is no easy task, as we have seen the devastation that the pandemic has wrought among our communities, and especially within the healthcare field. In Southern California, the cost of living crisis has filtered into the workplace, with many healthcare workers finding themselves priced out of their neighborhoods due to rising costs and unchecked gentrification, their stagnant wages and dwindling access to healthcare benefits compounding an already untenable situation. More than 2,200 healthcare workers at Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California are fighting for improved working conditions and a chance to combat the cost of living crisis with a new contract. So far, they have been met with an aggressive management that is hellbent on freezing wages and striking some of the most important benefits that healthcare workers enjoy from the contract. Represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, or NUHW, these workers - medical technicians, respiratory therapists, licensed vocational nurses, housekeepers and nursing assistants - have made clear their demands for improved working conditions at multiple USC healthcare facilities across Los Angeles, and we’ve brought on Francisco Cendejas and Noemi Aguirre, two worker-organizers at Keck Medicine, to talk about the ongoing contract negotiations.Note: This episode was recorded on July 18th, 2024. Negotiations with Keck-USC are still ongoing.
Additional links/info below…

NUHW - Keck-USC Negotiations Factsheet
Penn Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, “How Inadequate Hospital Staffing Continues to Burn Out Nurses and Threaten Patients”
National Union of Healthcare Workers - Main Site

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Better Work, Better Pay, Better Patient Outcomes: Keck-USC Healthcare Workers Fight for a Fair Contract