Today is International Workers’ Day, a day when all workers around the world stand together as one.
What is this important?
I think 2 letters explain it better than I can.
The first is from the CEO of Hartford Healthcare to all employees. In it, he tells how he will share a message with the media on Sunday, (no doubt using patient care dollars to self promote). In it he will speak of pride of the Hartford Healthcare employees and how as he says “We stand with them.”
You see, that’s part of the problem. He isn’t one of us.
For months our members have fought for Personal Protective Equipment and even for an inventory of what PPE the hospitals have. Yesterday, after great struggle, we received that inventory. It shows a supply greater than or equal to 15 days, prompting the Governor’s office to clearly state,
No worker should be denied an N95 when caring for a Covid positive or PUI patient.
At the same time, the president of the HHC Eastern Region has been calling a group of nurses who will soon vote to join their sisters and brothers in unity and asking them how they are going to vote.
THIS is why we celebrate International Workers’ Day.
To celebrate our right to have a voice.
That right was put on display this week at HHC when nurses participated in a campaign of letter writing to the Connecticut Dept of Public Health. They were rewarded, as detailed by a letter from Logan to the members:
All,
What is this important?
I think 2 letters explain it better than I can.
The first is from the CEO of Hartford Healthcare to all employees. In it, he tells how he will share a message with the media on Sunday, (no doubt using patient care dollars to self promote). In it he will speak of pride of the Hartford Healthcare employees and how as he says “We stand with them.”
You see, that’s part of the problem. He isn’t one of us.
For months our members have fought for Personal Protective Equipment and even for an inventory of what PPE the hospitals have. Yesterday, after great struggle, we received that inventory. It shows a supply greater than or equal to 15 days, prompting the Governor’s office to clearly state,
No worker should be denied an N95 when caring for a Covid positive or PUI patient.
At the same time, the president of the HHC Eastern Region has been calling a group of nurses who will soon vote to join their sisters and brothers in unity and asking them how they are going to vote.
THIS is why we celebrate International Workers’ Day.
To celebrate our right to have a voice.
That right was put on display this week at HHC when nurses participated in a campaign of letter writing to the Connecticut Dept of Public Health. They were rewarded, as detailed by a letter from Logan to the members:
All,
Today DPH conducted an onsite inspection at Natchaug. They will continue the investigation by reviewing Natchaug’s clinical records and policies. This happened because you as nurses came together and collectively stood up for yourselves and your patients. In fact, so many of you sent DPH emails that they requested I pass the information along to all of you and serve as the “complainant” for the many complaints they received. I will keep you up to date on the investigation.
If anyone has additional information they would like to provide DPH, you can contact Denise Soja who is handling the investigation. Her email is Denise.Soja@ct.gov.
In addition, a couple of nurses submitted OSHA complaints. The union submitted one as well. OSHA has notified the employer of these hazards, and is demanding response from Natchaug.
Regardless of the outcome of these investigations, you have shown Natchaug that you will fight for safe working conditions.
Thank you for everything you do to protect yourself, your coworkers, and your patients.
Best,
Logan
Congratulations sister’s and brothers in finding your voice.
Jan has a message for us this May Day.
https://youtu.be/OXEUubHzJLI
It is 55 days since our first confirmed case of Covid-19
100,257 have been tested
28,764 have tested positive
1592 are currently hospitalized, down 58 today
2339 have died from Covid, 82 today.
Kelly sends some info from AFT
Congratulations sister’s and brothers in finding your voice.
Jan has a message for us this May Day.
https://youtu.be/OXEUubHzJLI
It is 55 days since our first confirmed case of Covid-19
100,257 have been tested
28,764 have tested positive
1592 are currently hospitalized, down 58 today
2339 have died from Covid, 82 today.
Kelly sends some info from AFT
Clarification re: COVID-19 as bloodborne pathogen. On Monday’s call Sara was asked a question regarding whether SARS CoV-2/COVID-19 is a bloodborne pathogen. By way of clarifying the answer given to that question, a review of the existing literature is that it is not likely that the virus could be passed in a needlestick and that is the opinion we would be likely to get if we were to ask experts. However, there is some uncertainty due to a lack of evidence. We are willing to assist any affiliate who wishes to pursue a Health Hazard Evaluation by NIOSH if the member with the exposure and her leadership wish to pursue that, although we would need to push for it.
MetLife Healthcare Members Estate Planning benefit. This is not the most endearing thing to think about, but an important member benefit nonetheless. Union Plus partner MetLife is offering members of healthcare organizations online estate planning services from May 4 through June 30 at no cost. These services will be available at MetLife.com/Heroes and will be provided by Willing, a MetLife company.
After answering a few questions, members will be able to create:
- Healthcare Proxy* – Make decisions about your own medical care and/or appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf. (*Not available in Oregon)
- Power of Attorney – Delegate someone you trust to manage your financial affairs.
- Estate Planning Documents (Last Will and Testament) – Choose who should receive your assets and name beneficiaries for minor children.
If your members, their spouse, children, extended family members, or friends work in the healthcare industry, please encourage them to take advantage of this benefit. The benefit is open to anyone in U.S. regardless of relationship to MetLife. If you have questions, please contact Tish Olshefski (tolshef@aft.org) or Mary Traeger Pascale (mtraeger@aft.org)
Pre-Nurses Week social media campaign. Tomorrow, I will share an outline of what our team has for Nurses Week, which will be an exciting week where we honor our nurses and other health professionals. Many of you know that next week also commemorates the work of teachers (May 4-9) public service workers (May 3-9). In addition to some cool things we have in store, the AFT is launching a social media campaign to honor our frontline in a #ThankAHero campaign. The campaign will ask members and members of the public alike to engage via social media, submit photos and videos with a message of thanks to nominate their own healthcare professional, educator, or public employee as an AFT hero. We know our members didn’t sign up to be “heroes”; but so many join and support our fight for them because that’s exactly what our members are to so many.
Anyone can participate just by going to www.aft.org/Thankahero. 75 people will win gift cards up to $100 each to spend in their local restaurants which will help small businesses or get free book gift codes. Anyone can enter this contest and anyone can win! We hope you will join us in this fun, heartwarming video contest that allows each of us to express our appreciation for the nurses, educators, public servants and our other frontline workers who are doing so much for our communities in these challenging times.
Thank you so much for all you do. I hope each of you is well and healthy.
In Solidarity,
Kelly
Kelly D. Trautner
Director | Health Issues
(Pronouns: she/hers)
T: 202-393-7991 | F: 202-783-2014 | E: ktrautne@aft.org
American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
Find our latest COVID-19 Resources and Information at AFT’s Resource Page
AFT has also released a guide on safely reopening communitues. C. Readying Our Hospitals and Health Systems https://www.aft.org/press-release/aft-launches-landmark-plan-safely-reopen-americas-schools-and-communities?link_id=1&can_id=2d7c974b85a9a42c6822444e36c34750&source=email-our-plan-to-safely-reopen-americas-schools-and-communities&email_referrer=email_792050&email_subject=our-plan-to-safely-reopen-americas-schools-and-communities
I wanted to share this part, which speaks directly to healthcare facilities:
The lessons of this pandemic demonstrate the dangerous consequences of being ill- prepared. The inability of our decimated public health infrastructure to handle a pandemic puts the problems with our corporatized healthcare system on full display.
In the absence of widespread immunity to COVID-19, new infections could surge once shelter-in-place orders are lifted and society begins to reopen. Experts additionally talk about a possible second wave of outbreaks in the fall. Without a robust public health infrastructure, and absent enforcement of strong protective guidelines and a supportive response plan by the federal government, union leaders in the health sector must engage in meaningful ways of holding employers accountable.
The gap between our public health system and private healthcare corporations must
be addressed. A lack of transparency and a funding model that has starved resources from the public health system not only reward pharmaceutical and large healthcare corporations. They also establish a power imbalance that minimizes the voices of
patients and workers in setting standards of care and in helping shape how care should be delivered. Notwithstanding the challenges with our current system, evidence-based practices, enactment and enforcement of protective regulatory standards, and collectively bargained terms are necessary to ensure healthcare workers can care for patients without fear of harm to themselves and their family, should a resurgence of the virus occur.
Worker safety is patient safety. Our healthcare workforce has borne the brunt of workplace infections and deaths related to COVID-19, owing in large part to the crisis rationing of PPE and the diminution of federal standards and guidelines that conform with the highest standards of patient safety. It is imperative that nurses and other health professionals are at the table during employer debriefs and when preparedness plans are evaluated and modified, to ensure our healthcare workforce is not working in hazardous conditions. Health and safety issues must be addressed before another surge in infections occurs. PPE supplies must be adequate in number and quality, and all staff should be fit- tested and fully trained for use of PPE.
State reopening plans phasing in the return of elective medical procedures and routine care require a hard look at where we have failed to keep our patients and healthcare workforce safe. With COVID-19, nurses and healthcare professionals are working
in conditions where protective measures of infection control have failed and their expertise and training have been overlooked. Infection control measures in patient
care environments have necessarily been adjusted during the pandemic and will require ongoing adjustment as reopening occurs. Factors like patient flow, room setup, and visitor policies will influence the ability to limit transmission in clinical settings. And union leaders will need to press healthcare employers to ensure they are ready to quickly implement preparedness plans in the event of a resurgence.
There is a need to stabilize the healthcare workforce, as areas hard-hit by the virus
have seen an increased need for critical care nurses, but a decrease in need for other nurse specialties. Resulting layoffs and substantial job loss in healthcare contribute to
the overall unemployment rates, prompting the need for effective deployment of our healthcare workforce; this is a key component of reopening and preparation for a second surge in infections. Nurses on medical floors with low patient counts, for example, could be trained to augment staffing in critical care areas where staffing numbers are low due to infection rates among clinicians. Rather than tactics like recruitment from abroad, we should first implement retraining to redeploy existing staff based on patient needs.
Mending well-being and emotional resilience among the healthcare workforce will also be a necessity. Stressors abound for healthcare workers caring for acutely ill COVID-19 patients in isolation in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Whether related to stressors like employment of strict biosecurity measures, the isolation from family and friends, the heightened workload demands, or even the risk of disease, our healthcare workforce will require a period of reintegration—even though most of their facilities have remained open. The systematic failure of employers and the federal government to prepare for a pandemic resulted in an extraordinary level of unnecessary trauma across the healthcare workforce, and those things must be addressed.
This is a great site packed with helpful information on staying safe. Please share
https://www.knowwhentosayno.org/
I’d like to close on this International Workers’ Day with “The Internationale” which pays tribute to workers everywhere, song by Mr Billy Bragg https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F3BIvqbyku5g&data=02%7C01%7CJBrady%40aftct.org%7C4dc49a7e164d477019e508d7ee06a3c9%7Cc912f9978344453ea9546829e629feb3%7C0%7C0%7C637239584592989351&sdata=%2BLBBGUH%2FWXMYFS7tHlv6HneFdWZYwVM5O%2BwsYTiOnzE%3D&reserved=0
Be well,
John
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