Hundreds of people gathered early Thursday morning at Fremont Park in Midtown for International Workers Day — a day to honor working people around the world.
Many unions were present to show solidarity with one another before the rally started at 11 a.m. and people headed out for a march around downtown shortly after 12:30 p.m.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was a union that supported the labor movement, as well as the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE), who were on strike against the University of California.
According to Amy Fletcher, a researcher at UC Davis and statewide treasurer for UPTE, the organization gathered for an unfair labor practice strike. Fletcher, who organized the event, stated that UPTE is a union representing over 20,000 workers, primarily at the University of California (UC), and approximately 3,000 workers in the Sacramento area.
“We represent researchers like myself, clinical research coordinators at the hospital, technical workers like our amazing animal technicians over at [Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital] in Davis and IT workers,” Fletcher said. “Then a lot of the healthcare workers at the hospital— social workers, pharmacists, clinical lab scientists, physical therapists.”
Workers from the California Nurses Association marching during International Workers Day. (Photo by Keyshawn Davis)
Fletcher's hope for the community gathering, for the rally, and protests is that it teaches people the importance of organized labor, inspiring them to look into how they can support it.
“I hope it shows workers that we're all in this together,” Fletchers said. “We are all workers, whether we work at the hospital, at the campus, in a hotel, and we all need to band together to make sure that workers' rights are being protected right now.”
UPTE has had difficulty getting the UC to stop committing unfair labor practices and engage with them, according to Fletcher.
Paul Henderson Sr. from SEIU 2015 came to the rally to show support. He said the organization is pushing two bills right now, AB283, which will require every union in California to pay a decent wage and prevent legislators from defunding Medicaid.
“It seems like every time the budget comes down, they want to cut Medicaid,” said Henderson, an in-home care support provider who cares for a stroke patient. “Medicaid and MediCal is what funds this program, the in-home care, and so I'm an advocate for that. I know some states right now don't have that program anymore and the reason why they didn't is because they didn't have the support. Nobody didn't come together in solidarity to keep it going. Well, this is what I am here for today.”
One of the challenges Henderson said he faces is financial.
“If we were at that wage, we wouldn't have to do other side jobs just to maintain rent and PG&E,” he said.
The Service Employee International Union workers gets ready to march through downtown from Fremont Park in midtown. (Photo by Keyshawn Davis)
Sonya Mogilner is a licensed clinical social worker at the University of California, Davis Medical Center. She said UPTE has, for years, “sounded the alarm” on the staffing crisis, but then the UC announced a hiring freeze without bargaining with them.
She said that the short staffing is impacting patient care, which could lead to unsafe discharges.
“I've been here for about six years. In that time, I became the third in seniority on a team of 16 social workers in the hospital,” Mogilner said. “It takes our social workers about two years to become competent. What that looks like on a day-to-day basis is usually I cover 30 trauma patients, all the gunshot victims in the surrounding area. Everyone is on my service. I've been having to cover cardiology, neurology, and burns, and I can hold, sometimes up to 125 patients. I can’t do my job that way.”
This year, protests on International Workers Day are happening to protect the working class and immigrants. Mogilner, who is an immigrant, said that workers are facing the same kind of anxieties as her patients.
“We have parents that are immigrants that are worried if they're going to get deported from the hospital, and who's going to stay with their baby, because they can't take their baby with them,” Mogilner said. “I'm an immigrant. I was born in the Soviet Union, and I'm a social worker, and I have a ‘go bag’ now with all my documents in it.”
Mogilner said that if ICE comes, she’s prepared, but she’s blessed and privileged to have a light phenotype and blue eyes.
“Do I think I'm gonna be stopped by ICE? I don't, but all of our workers that are immigrants are facing this kind of anxiety, and we need to know that UC has our back,” she said. “We need to know that UC is gonna staff our hospitals safely so that we can do our job safely, so that we can be there to take care of our community.”
Correction: A previous version of this story said Sonya Mogilner was pleased to have a light phenotype. This was a mistake. It has been corrected to reflect that Mogilner said privileged. We apologize for the mistake.
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