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On Thursday, April 30, SEIU 1021 healthcare workers hosted a roundtable discussion via Facebook Live to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, and ways members in healthcare settings have been working tirelessly to keep patients and our communities safe. You can watch the full discussion here (fast forward to the 7:00 minute mark).

Panelists encouraged everyone to take action by demanding Congress include funds for local and state governments in future stimulus bills to protect the crucial work we do. You can add your voice  at seiu1021.org/actnow or by calling 877-851-2521 to be connected to the office of your elected representatives.

SEIU 1021 President Joseph Bryant and SEIU 1021 VP of Organizing Jennifer Esteen, RN hosted the event, along with a panel featuring:

• Theresa Rutherford, SEIU 1021 Vice President of San Francisco and Nurse Assistant at Laguna Honda Hospital
• John Pearson, Registered Nurse and SEIU 1021 Chapter President at Alameda Health System
• Dena Galindo, SEIU 1021 Steward and Office Systems Specialist at San Joaquin General Hospital.
• Dr. Amelia Breyre, Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR-SEIU) Regional Vice President for Northern California

“This is the fourth installation of our “reach every member” broadcasts, which we kicked off about six weeks ago at the start of “shelter in place.” We created this platform to provide important information and updates for our membership, to continue to organize, unite, and collectively fight to protect all workers who are impacted by the crisis, and we also wanted a space where we can lift up our coworkers who continue to heroically provide the essential services that allow our communities to function day in and day out throughout this pandemic,” said Joseph Bryant, SEIU 1021 President.

On Friday, April 24, over one hundred San Francisco city workers and allies wearing protective face masks caravanned from the REI parking lot on Brannan St. to the SF Emergency Operations Center at the Moscone Center (check out photos here). An hour after our caravan action, Mayor Breed announced the acquisition of 15 million pieces of PPE.

City workers’ demand: universal testing and protective equipment (PPE) for all employees at work of serving residents during this pandemic.

“We are caring for the sick, supporting San Francisco’s seniors, children and vulnerable populations, and helping people get where they need to go,” said Theresa Rutherford, VP of San Francisco. “Adequate PPE keeps us safer. Universal testing is needed to figure out where the virus is, who is positive, and where it is going, who has fought it off, and whether the San Francisco residents are gaining immunity.”

“Essential front line workers are risking their lives, so we can live ours. Without these workers, who are bravely doing their civil duties every single day are heroes.  Their mission– to stop this virus from spreading,” said SEIU 1021 President Joseph Bryant.” We need to make sure they have the essential protections to beat this virus.”

After months of activism on the job, at City Hall, and an hour after this caravan action in the streets— SF city workers received one out of two demands to #ProtectAllWorkers. Mayor London Breed announced the acquisition of fifteen million pieces of PPE for frontline workers.

Earlier this month, hundreds of public healthcare workers rallied at a press conference and testified at a hearing at SF City Hall. Registered nurses, doctors, social workers urged the Board of Supervisors to boost staffing and provide safer working conditions at San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) facilities, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks to an SEIU Local 1021 negotiated side letter agreement over PPE in response to the 2018 wildfires, the Livermore Unified School District was already equipped with the PPE to supply our frontline workers serving daily school breakfasts and lunches during their daily meal distribution period.

Student nutrition workers and custodians are working 2 hours, every other day while receiving full wages.

On April 16, SEIU 1021 President Joseph Bryant led our first telephone town hall since the COVID-19 pandemic began. You can listen to a recording of the full town hall here.

President Bryant hosted a panel featuring member leaders Ashley Payne, Karla Faucett, and Brandon Dawkins, who discussed their challenges and victories during this crisis.

“We’re keeping up the pressure—keeping membership looped in and being really creative about our organizing since we can’t show up at the Board of Supervisors chambers as usual or picket in person anymore,”  said Ashley Payne, SEIU 1021 Chapter Vice President in Contra Costa County.

This week, SEIU Local 1021 RN Industry Chair Sasha Cuttler published an op-ed in the San Francisco Examiner detailing the experiences of him and his colleagues in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The decreasing trend in new cases in SF continues to give hope that the first wave of infections may be decreasing. Let’s flatten the curve all the way by giving all workers the PPE and the right training for the job. And making sure that there are more than enough staff to do the work while the sick ones recover,” Sasha said.

Sasha shares from his background as a nurse in the United States’ first HIV/AIDS ward unit at San Francisco General Hospital. “Now as then, we find ourselves missing the many patients and colleagues who left us behind all at once,” Sasha reflects in his op-ed.