After months of fighting against premature layoffs prompted by future funding cuts made by HR1, the Trump Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill, Alameda Health System workers have won. Last week, the County Board of Supervisors, led by Nikki Fortunato Bas and Nate Miley, voted to provide extra funding for the county’s safety-net healthcare system, and the AHS Board of Trustees then voted to rescind the layoffs.

This concluded a process that began just before Christmas, when AHS management actually sent hundreds of layoff notices on Christmas Eve. SEIU 1021 members mobilized quickly. They staged actions from Alameda County to Sacramento and kept a steady drumbeat at AHS’s Board of Trustees meetings and the County’s Board of Supervisors meetings, where AHS workers and community members gave powerful testimony about the importance of their work and the need to protect our community’s most vulnerable members.

One such trustees’ meeting took place on June 3.

“I’m just really upset that we’re still here with no progress. Money and profits are a byproduct of people. Once you stop serving the people, you lose your money, you lose your product. Fostering unemployment in the community doesn’t make financial sense in the future,” said Iman Khalil, SEIU 1021 member and respiratory therapist. 

SEIU 1021 member and speech pathologist Christian Thies said, ”Cutting labor doesn’t save money in the long run with increased overtime and burn out… reducing our skilled workforce is not the answer.”

“Many of our clients call Fairmont their home. It’s where they find stability, but they need to know they have somewhere to come home to,” said Drew Scott, an SEIU 1021 member and rehabilitation counselor. 

Chapter President Maria Betancourt said, ”This is a massive win for patient care and the 82 SEIU 1021 members set to be laid off by Alameda Health System. We thank the leadership of Supervisors Nikki Fortunato Bas and Nate Miley. However, we still have NO CONFIDENCE in AHS management, so keep signing our petition and stay tuned for upcoming actions where we can celebrate this huge win!”