Covid-19 is the biggest global public health crisis since World War I, and AHS members are on the front lines of containment and caregiving. That's why, last week, our bargaining teams demanded that AHS meet with our General Unit, RN, and San Leandro Hospital chapters for emergency joint bargaining over this crisis. That session happened on Wednesday, March 18, via conference call, mainly involving Dr. Tanvir Hussain, the Vice President of Quality for AHS.
Our demands were simple and designed to protect our members and keep the public safe. We demanded that:
AHS have clear protocols, communicate them widely, and train staff on them
AHS make personal protective equipment (PPE) and other safety equipment available
AHS follow the CalOSHA safety guidelines rather than the weaker CDC guidelines
Everyone who can work from home be allowed to
AHS provide paid administrative leave to people who have to stay home
AHS increase EVS staffing to be able to do more frequent and aggressive cleaning to prevent contagion
Our full list of demands for how AHS must respond to Covid-19 is attached here (click to download).
Last week, we did a survey of our members and confirmed what we all already know: AHS is understaffed and disorganized and it puts us and our patients in danger. This was true long before the current crisis. Facing a massive pandemic just shows everyone how understaffed and mismanaged AHS has always been. As our members have been saying, it's a "disaster on top of a disaster."
Dr. Hussain confirmed the following:
People should not be reusing N95 masks for Covid-19 positive or rule out patients
If you are asked to reuse an N95 mask, you should refuse
AHS has no shortage of personal protective equipment, so masks should be provided
According to Director of Labor Relations Athena Buenconsejo, if we do not get an adequate response to any safety concern from a manager or supervisor, we should contact the Vice President for our specific facility.
While we work to keep our co-workers and community safe and healthy, we have made the decision to pause all bargaining unrelated to Covid-19 for one month.
For more information, here is the current information from CalOSHA:
General Covid-19 information for healthcare: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/Health-Care-General-Industry.html
Protecting healthcare workers from Covid-19: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Coronavirus/CoronaTri-HCW-03.16.2020-ADA.pdf
Specific personal protective equipment regulations: https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/5199.html
For questions or complaints in English or Spanish, call 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734): https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Complaint.htm