ACMC Workers Walk Out - "Put Patients First!"

Vote Health newsletter readers no doubt learned of the August 30 walkout from the extensive coverage given by local TV, radio and print media. Hundreds of workers participated in spirited rallies, picket lines and visits to district offices of several members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Vote Health activists were on the scene to support this dramatic protest against proposed cuts in patient services throughout the medical center. The message from SEIU and its supporters was clear: Put patients first!

As usual, there are several fascinating stories behind the big story (which didn't appear in the local press). Here are some of our favorites:

• Cambio, the consultants from Tennessee hired to "turnaround" ACMC, helped instead to build the walkout by locking out staff at the three freestanding clinics at Newark, Hayward and Eastmont Mall. The walkout had targeted only the 24-hour facilities, such as Highland, Fairmont, John George and Juvenile Hall Clinic. After reporting to work Monday morning, clinic workers boarded buses to join the picket lines at Highland and Fairmont. This was a costly mistake by Cambio - they will have to pay these workers! Cambio's lockout also unnecessarily hurt clinic patients who had scheduled appointments for Aug. 30.
• Cambio also locked down the employee parking lot at Highland on Sunday at 6pm. Some staff who were wavering about whether to support the work action were so infuriated by this action that they joined the walkout as well!
• Cambio rejected SEIU's offer to provide emergency nursing backup at Highland, saying they didn't need them. Instead, Cambio spent a fortune bringing in 220 "flying nurses" (temporary nurses, often from out-of-state) and put them up in local hotels for several days whether they worked after the initial 12 hour shift or not! This is much better staffing than Highland usually enjoys - what were they thinking?

The lockout and the flying nurses wasted precious funds which should have been directed towards patient care. Maybe Cambio should get its pay docked...

ACMC's Board of Trustees was originally scheduled to consider the layoffs on Aug. 30, although the item was removed from the agenda for further analysis by Dr. Rose. The meeting itself was cancelled when the Eastmont Mall location proved too small to hold the crowd of more than 150 workers and supporters.

Irma Swygert, Vote Health Exec member and Local 250 shop steward, commented that workers were elated by the strength of their latest job action - many had walked out for the first time! Vote Health and other community activists owe a great deal to SEIU members, who sacrificed their pay in order to put patients first. Let's be sure to support them as this fight escalates!

THE PRESSURE MOUNTS
In the end, it is the Board of Supervisors who must take responsibility for this current crisis. After many public meetings in the past few months, it has become quite clear that it is the Supes who are pushing for the layoffs because they want ACMC to repay funds "loaned" by the County to meet the medical center's payroll. After the trustees adopted their painful budget in July, they were blindsided by a demand from the County that they repay $17 million of this so-called debt this year! The Supes continue to ignore how such a demand will affect patient care or ACMC efforts to fix the problems that plague the medical center. This comes on top of the Supervisors' earlier cut in support for ACMC by $3.85 million in the county budget of 2005. In contrast, the Supes increased their support for the Sheriff's Office by $15.5 million this budget year! (ACMC gets only $31.6 million in county general fund money, while the Sheriff gets $138 million).

Vote Health completely rejects the often-repeated mantra of the Board of Supervisors that ACMC trustees have sole control over their budget and personnel decisions. The Supes created the hospital authority and they appoint the trustees. They can legally dissolve the authority and assume responsibility for ACMC's operation. The crisis at ACMC has been a long time developing and only the Board of Supervisors can set it right by providing the appropriate leadership. County voters expected exactly this sort of leadership when they voted to tax themselves March 2.

Plans are in the works for continued pressure on the Supes. Vote Health will be helping by providing outreach to patients in order to document the long waits for clinic visits, emergency services, and pharmacy prescriptions. This newsletter comes out only monthly, so to stay on top of events as they develop, you can ask to be added to either the VH activist email list or the larger supporters list (the activist list gets more email) by contacting us at info@VoteHealth.net; and you can sign up for union updates and email alerts by going to www.CUReACMC.org, the website maintained by the labor/community coalition organized to protest ACMC service cuts.

Health Bill on Governor's Desk

Important healthcare bills await the Governor's signature by Sept. 30th on such issues as prescription drug costs, hospital overcharging, coverage of prenatal care, hospital closures, and others.
Go to www.health-access.org/docs/HealthLegAlertGovSept04.doc for a list of key legislation and send a separate letter for each bill you support to GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814. Or you can fax your letter to (916) 445-4633. Write soon-he may act before Sept. 30th!

Newsletter committee:
Kay Eisenhower, Brad Cleveland, Paula Friedman
Our thanks to CA Nurses Association for their help in producing this newsletter.