Why Kaiser Permanente Therapist in Los Angeles went on a hunger strike: Shot

In many ways, it was a normal protest scene. Dozens of impressive mental health care workers marched chanting Tuesday outside Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on a busy strip on Los Angeles sunset boulevard. The passing cars received support. People shook the signs of homemade hard.

However, some impressive workers sat quietly under the tent to save energy and mix in electrolyte drinks.

Frustrated and feeling unable to hear them to demand more pay and benefits after nearly six months of strike, these eight therapists had taken their protest to the next level with five days of hunger string.

“Our efforts to let them know we are serious,” said Aida Valdivia, a licensed marriage and family therapist who is one of the hunger strikers.

Many workers on the strike have already been victimized, Valdivia says she has drained her savings account, went to the food bank and borrowed money from friends and family over the past few months.

“We had to limit the food anyway,” Valdivia said. “So basically you're starving us, Kaiser.”

The workers began strikes in October, claiming they deserve the same pensions that other Kaiser permanent workers receive, and are equivalent to colleagues in the same care position in other parts of the state.

They also claim that other Kaiser health workers who have similar levels of training, such as occupational therapists and radiation techniques, are up to 40% more than those in mental health.

Many say they don't have time to eat or go to the bathroom between clients. Their requests include more time between patients, such as scheduling and paperwork.

Some workers are back at their jobs, but hundreds continue to strike without pay. Organizers believe it is the longest strike for mental health workers in US history.

Kaiser Permanente – The organization, which serves as an insurance company and California's largest provider of health care, has paid millions of dollars fines to the state in recent years for its behavioral health system failing to provide proper care. Many fines were associated with long wait times. This is maintained by mental health professionals as another indicator of an overworked and understaffed workforce.

Representatives of Kaiser Permanente acknowledge that some benefits and wages are not comparable to others, but they still insist that they pay competitive workers.

Mental health workers receive retirement benefits, but they argue that benefits are not the same as generous pensions that colleagues in other departments, including those who work in managerial and service positions. When asked if this was true, Kaiser's representatives replied that they didn't know.

In a written email statement, spokesman for Kaiser Pernekten, Terry Kanakli said the union “requires significantly higher wages to care for fewer patients.” He and other representatives argue that Southern California has a different economic dynamic than the rest of the state, maintaining the company's “responsibility to provide generous contracts to employees is accessible and affordable to high quality care.”

Nevertheless, the Hunger Strike is attracting attention on Kaiser Permanente Management. “It's very unsettling for us to put hunger strikes on our employees,” said Patty Clawson, senior vice president of continuous operations and clinical services for a Southern California-area company.

Clawson says management is keen to return to the negotiation table: “We are committed to finding a common foundation for all of us.”

“Is it normal to get chills?”

Sitting under the tent with other hungry strikers, Adriana Webb checked in with the nurse who came to monitor their progress. “I felt a bit cold,” said Webb, who was on the second day of the hunger strike. “I Googled it and said it might be because I'm falling into ketosis because I don't eat.”

“That's a little early,” replied David Belldiner, a nurse working at the gastrointestinal department. “That could be a little lower in your blood sugar.”

Verdiner is one of many volunteers from other unions that are doing medical surveillance for these strikers. “The bigger thing is that you feel good today,” he reassured her. “Your body is experiencing withdrawal, right? You're used to eating three meals a day.”

In support of a striker near the Pickett Line, Sarrozeli said, “Same company, same job. Why don't you do the same wages, pensions, benefits?”

Roseli, former chairman of the National Union of Health Workers, says Kaiser Permantet has the opportunity to become a leader in mental health issues. He imagines this hunger strike will help guide the United States into an era where “the term “mental health care” does not exist. It's simply health care.”

Lack of mental health – wage and investment equality between mental and physical health care – is a national issue. One report shows that about two-thirds of Americans diagnosed with mental health conditions have health insurance but have no access to treatment.

California passed the Parity Act to put mental health in the same position as physical health. Roseli says it's time for state healthcare providers to show their commitment.

History of California's hunger strike

Hungry strikes are not a common organizing tool, but some trace their history to the historic farmworker strikes in Cesar Chavez. “It's very California, at least in my reading,” says Eric Loomis, a labor historian at the University of Rhode Island. “It's very connected to the Chavez experience.”

Loomis warns that winning workers could be a challenge if strikes continue. “When there's a long-lasting strike, it can be very difficult to win that strike because it usually means that the employer has the advantage,” he says.

Loomis says doing something extreme like a hunger strike can be a curveball. “It could be very effective given that strike goal,” says Loomis, but he warns that the race for the American eyes and ears is “making it harder to get attention.”

On Friday, the union announced it is scheduled for a new negotiation date with Kaiser Permanente next week. This was the first meeting in a month due to previous negotiations getting worse.

Tom Morello, a longtime member of rock band Rage Again The Machine, stopped by at a quick concert on Tuesday to cheer on the striker. “I'm a Union man,” he told the cheering crowd. “When you say Union, I say Power!”

After a few songs on the sidewalk, Morello left this to the striker. “It is my belief that the future of the working class in this country will not be decided by Congress, not by courts,” Morello says.

“On days like these, it is determined by the solidarity of people like you.”