Editorials

On Thursday upwards of 72 health care workers of the West Oakland Health Council went on a one-day strike opposing a 3.5 percent wage increase offered them by corporate management and today many are still waiting to be allowed to go back to work. 

“It’s pretty clear they’re doing this because they’re angry,” said psychiatric case manager Martin Rosen. “They are refusing to allow us to go back to work and compromising patient care because they are punishing us for asserting our constitutional rights. They have let some people go back to work with less seniority, and they have threatened to put others on administrative leave — those of us who have been more obvious and out in the open with this are being punished.” 

The health care workers have requested a 7.5 percent pay increase and say that management has been unwilling to budge on the 3.5 percent offer. 

Robert Cooper, director of the West Oakland Health Council did not return phone calls Monday for a comment. But union representatives say the official position of the clinic is that this is not a lock-out but that management is claiming there is simply a shortage of work that needs to be done to its nine area clinics.  

A late afternoon meeting between the health care union shop steward Rozalyn Taylor and the Council’s management did not go very far in securing the jobs of the striking workers.  

“They said they would start to think about letting some of us back to work,” Taylor said.  

According to Rosen the reality of this means that health care workers will go into work tomorrow and will be made aware at some point in the day whether or not they will be allowed to remain. 

“They’re trying to use divide and conquer and trying to use intimidation,” Rosen said. “Our union representatives are ready to go back to the bargaining table, but we can’t accept this ridiculous 3.5 percent wage increase.” 

Health workers at the council receive some of the lowest wages in the Bay Area, according to Sandy Mitchell a license vocational nurse with the clinic at the 900 Adeline Dr. location.  

Mitchell will be going back to work tomorrow, but says the fate of many of her co-workers is still uncertain and she feels that management is acting directly out of spite due to the Thursday walkout. 

“The most important thing is the hypocrisy in all this,” Rosen said. “They say that they are concerned with protecting patients, and here they are refusing to allow us to go back to work. Patients are being neglected, I had to cancel several appointments today. And this is health care.”