Dave Johnson has been posting about this strike and its big picture implications, but I also wanted to share some of the individual stories from the workers on the front lines. Here’s Saras Chand from Fremont:

I am a security officer with Inter-Con at the Kaiser Fremont Medical Center. I live in Fremont as well. I’ve worked here for about 1 year and 5 months.

I am from the Fiji Islands. I left the Fiji Islands to come here because it’s hard to survive back home. You can’t get a good education for your family and it’s hard to earn enough to support them. I have 6 kids and my family is important to me.

I’ve worked other security jobs. In a hospital, security has a lot of responsibility and risk. We come into contact with sick people frequently. Despite that we get paid less here than I have at other security jobs.

I do a good job. I always come on time to work. If something is part of my duties, I do it. My heart tells me I should always do a good job and work my best, no matter where I am. I do my best for Kaiser patients and staff – I am committed to doing my part so no one gets hurt.

But we don’t get respect.

We don’t have paid sick leave. If I get sick, I miss pay. That means when we are sick, we think about coming to work anyway since we don’t want to lose pay. That’s not good for us, for patients, or Kaiser staff.

Some people think security is an easy job. But that’s because they don’t know our responsibilities or how hard we work.

When I was in Fiji, I thought, “America is a good country. I will make good money and support my family there.” But we don’t get respect over here.

When I wake up each morning I pray to God that he will help me do my best for my family, my friends, and at my job for Kaiser.

I am an organizer for SEIU.

Dave Johnson has been posting about this strike and its big picture implications, but I also wanted to share some of the individual stories from the workers on the front lines. Here’s Dale Brown from Sacramento:

I’ve been with Inter-Con at Kaiser South Sacramento for a year. I’m constantly worried about getting sick. Working in a hospital, I’m exposed to illness and danger all the time. Without paid sick leave, Inter-con officers either have financial hardship if we take off of work, or are forced to work while sick. If I were to have to miss even one week I would be in danger of losing my apartment.

I’m a single mother, and the insurance plan is too expensive for me to enroll my 2 children. It would cause me hardship even just to buy the Inter-Con/Kaiser plan for my kids.

Recently I had to tell my daughter that we couldn’t afford to pay for cheerleading or volleyball because of the low pay-and no raises–paid at Kaiser to Inter-Con officers. That’s not a situation a parent should ever have to face.

I am fighting for a union because we deserve better. We protect Kaiser and its assets, but Inter-Con isn’t even willing to sit down and hear us out. That is just wrong.

But Inter-Con is breaking the law and violating our civil rights. They’re threatening and harassing workers, pulling people aside and interrogating them. I hated to go on strike, because we all want to make sure that Kaiser patients and employees are protected. But Inter-Con’s breaking the law so we had no choice.

Dale Brown, Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center

I am an organizer for SEIU.