Kaiser Security Guard Strike

This week I wrote about the Kaiser Permanente / Inter-Con Security Security Guard strike.

The post Security Guards Striking for the Right to Have Our Laws Enforced discussed why the guards are striking. They are employees of Inter-Con Security, Inc., which contracts services to Kaiser Permanente facilities in California. This company (not Kaiser) is trying to stop the guards from forming a union and the guards are striking to ask that laws allowing union organizing be enforced.

In Why They (And You) Need A Union a comparison with unionized security guards at Kaiser facilities in other states demonstrated the difference that forming a union can make to workers everywhere.

The post Unions: Sticking Together to Fight Corporate Power discussed how individuals are unable to stand up against the immense power and wealth that corporations are able to accumulate. Over time workers learned that by organizing into unions they were able to also build enough power to fight back and demand fair compensation and benefits for their work.

Outside of the blogs there was remarkably little coverage of this strike. Here is a roundup of some of the other coverage:

This is a good story online at Urban Mecca, Three-Day Strike by Hundreds of Security Officers at Kaiser Hospitals,

"The public needs to know that the security officers responsible for making Kaiser hospitals safe and protecting vulnerable patients are being denied our fundamental civil rights. Inter-Con freely uses intimidation, spying and retaliation to harass its workers," said Shauna Carnero, a security officer in Hayward.

The strike, which began May 6 and included major rallies outside Kaiser medical centers in Oakland, Sacramento and Los Angeles, followed numerous federal complaints that workers have filed with the National Labor Relations Board in recent weeks charging Inter-Con with unfair labor practices over the past two years.

The Pasadena Star-News had Kaiser guards strike,

Hospital security guards went on strike statewide Thursday, citing poor working conditions and lack of health coverage.

About 200 Southern California employees of Inter-Con Security, which is contracted by Kaiser Permanente to provide security guards, joined their Northern California counterparts who have been on strike since Tuesday, Service Employees International Union officials said.

[. . .] Security guards have little legal recourse when they are denied the right to organize, an SEIU attorney said. A loophole in the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 gives security guards only one method of forming a union.

While most employees have the option of holding an election to bring in a union, security guards can only organize if their employers agree to recognize the union, said attorney Orrin Baird.

"It's sort of out-dated," Baird said. "If they were not guards they could file a petition with the (National Labor Relations Board) and then they would have to have an election."

While a few local TV stations carried news about the strike, there was a near-blackout of coverage in the corporate media. Why do you think that is?

Please visit StandForSecurity.org.

I am proud to be helping SEIU spread the word about this strike.

Comments

[Fairfloss]

Hey the Dem's are going to give us good HEALTH CARE, so why should I pay Kaiser, over $550 a month for bad health care and wait for some fat, lazy, security guard to go on strike for higher pay, which means higher Insurance payments for me?

REALITY CHECK NEEDED HERE.

[Quaoar]

Kaiser will raise your insurance payments and give you worse health care whether or not the security guards get more money, especially if the CEO and upper level executives get a hefty compensation increase.

P.S. I bet most of those "fat, lazy security guards" could kick your ass without breaking a sweat.

[Fairfloss]

Bet not, I am married to Security Guard. Just WHAT kind of training do you think they have? Most are barely literate. I husband does it to supplement his retirement and though he doesn't work at Kaiser Permanente, they all take the same (so called) training the state requires of them to get their "Guard Card."

It is no secret that younger people who become the "run-of-the-mill" security guards are lazy and uneducated. Most of the older men and women are simply supplementing their Social Security and/or retirement. BUT at least they are working for their living.

[oldpotsmuggler]

I think that the lack of publicity is due to the fact that the issue is so esoteric. In order to create a level playing field for security guards, apparently, special legislation would be needed. Realistically, not many folks are going to patyattention to that. And absolutely none from the right half of the political spectrum.

It looks like the guards, along with a whole shitload of us, are just absolutely screwed going forward if we don't sweep this thing in November. Vote for every candidate with a "D" behind their name and we may just turn things around. Vote for any "R"'s and kiss your ass goodbye.

Just a thought!

[Lemeritus]

"Vote for any 'R's and kiss your ass goodbye."

This is the bitter reality, oldpotsmuggler, and one that should be the prologue and epilogue of every discussion here. There is not an issue of concern to Americans -- from the Supreme Court to education to the inspection of the planes we fly (name an issue, ANY issue) -- that the Republicans have not made useless to the average American citizen. It makes my blood boil to still hear people threaten to stay home in November or vote for McCain (Nader, Pat Paulson, whoever). Even those of us who take great exception to the train wreck of a primary season the Democratic Party has exposed us to should remember that the alternative is so much worse.

And just a note to Fairfloss who bemoaned the possibility of having to pay extra for "bad health care" at Kaiser -- I had Kaiser for over 15 years, rarely had trouble getting an appointment, never had to wonder when I was due for a check-up, always had quick access to specialists and never had to go further than the first floor of any facility to get a prescription filled. These days I have to wait months for appointments and tests and it's a miracle if I can get a health care professional to call to discuss the results with me -- I can't tell you how much I miss Kaiser.

[Fairfloss]

Well my friend, don't waste your time missing it. You have to wait months to get an appointment to see your Primary Care Doctor or a P.A. They are often better than the doctors. There are rarely any specialist available.

Perhaps that will change when all things be come equal under universal health care.. Nah, it won't, who is kidding who?

It's all politics, who is buying anything any of the candidates say any way?