It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, October 06, 2023
CANADA
These drag performers say protests, threats won't stop them from reading to kids at storytime events
Story by Anya Zoledziowski •CBC
Adorned in fake lashes and colourful, blown out wigs, Fay and Fluffy walked out in front of cheering children at an outdoor amphitheatre in Mississauga, where they sang songs and read stories.
Before opening their books to read, Fay and Fluffy greeted the crowd enthusiastically, shouting "All are welcome here!" The Aug. 16 event seemed light and playful, with children laughing at stories full of monkeys and elephants.
But then, more than a dozen protesters appeared, surrounding the audience of about 50 people. A sign that read, "stop sexualization of children," was hoisted high by protesters wearing T-shirts emblazoned with phrases like, "Groom dogs not children," and "there are only two genders." One protester appeared to be livestreaming the event.
Police and security watched attentively nearby, while a few parents told protesters to be quiet. When the show ended, Fay and Fluffy were quickly escorted off stage. Protesters followed them out, chanting, "Leave our kids alone."
Fluffy was in tears.
"I've never felt like that before," she said as Fay consoled her.
The last year has been marked by similar protests — and in some cases, threats of violence — at drag storytimes across the country.
Last summer, protests formed outside an Edmonton library over a drag storytime. The same has happened in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In Quebec, one storytime event was moved to a secret location for safety reasons.
Often, the signs protesters carry have similar themes, including slogans that compare drag to pedophelia, sexual exploitation and grooming.
"A lot of those are kind of tied into the idea that educating kids about queerness is inherently grooming them and going to turn them gay and trans, which is their worst fear," said 19-year-old Isaac Maker, who reads at the library in Peterborough, Ont., every month while in the drag persona of "Betty Baker." Pastor calls drag storytime 'destructive'
Hill City Baptist Church pastor Ben Inglis organized the first protest at a Betty Baker drag story hour in Peterborough last fall. He believes these events normalize being transgender.
"I would love to see drag story hours dry up and be erased from public memory," Inglis said. "We believe this is a destructive thing for kids and a destructive thing for families and for our nation."
For Maker, drag is about supporting kids.
"The whole point is drag is so playful and so colourful and so creative, and being able to bring that to storytime just gives kids another reason to want to play," said Maker.
At the latest event in August, Maker sang a song about resilience. Protesters have shown up at several storytimes, but they're typically outnumbered by counter-protesters there in support of the event.
Maker has no plans to stop performing, but said, "It's hard to be a public figure when you're getting death threats and people call you a groomer and a pedophile." Confrontation in Calgary
Out West, similar confrontations are taking place.
On Feb. 25, Calgary preacher Derek Reimer — a man with a history of violence — stormed a drag storytime event called Reading with Royalty hosted by the Calgary Public Library. Reimer allegedly pushed parents out of the way and shouted transphobic and homophobic epithets at children in attendance.
He was later arrested and has since appeared at subsequent drag storytimes and been charged with hate-motivated crimes.
It was the first time something like that had happened in the nearly six years the Calgary Public Library has hosted Reading with Royalty, spokesperson Mary Kapusta told CBC's The National.
"The level of intimidation and harassment that we felt and observed in that space, it did not feel at that moment that it was a safe space for children."
Kapusta says the library's Reading with Royalty events are geared toward small children, and are "really beautiful, fun and joyful." But she said the library has had to adjust how events are organized so staff, performers and families feel safe. Kapusta says this can include staff check-ins, having families pre-register for events and having police on site during drag storytimes.
The city itself acted fast following the incident. In March, Calgary council members voted 10-5 in favour of a new safety bylaw that prohibits protests from taking place within 100 metres of a public library or recreation centre entrance.
Related video: Dueling protests over the issue of transgender policy in schools were held in cities across Canada (Global News) Duration 4:11 View on Watch
On Aug. 4, Calgary's Seton Library hosted its first drag storytime since the February incident. About six protesters stood far from the entrance, in accordance with the new bylaw.
"We are all part of the basic freedom movement of Canada," said one protester, who added that he believes drag performances are inherently sexual and encourage young people to be transgender.
Inside, local performers Aida Cupcake and King Neptune performed for a crowd of children. A large group of LGBTQ supporters, including Calgary's Rainbow Elders, a group of seniors in the LGBTQ community, sat outside the library, many decked out in rainbow colours.
These supporters outnumbered the protesters, and several said they were there to make sure families and performers felt comfortable and supported.
"Drag queens are not trying to groom your children for any sort of purpose," said Aida Cupcake, known as Steven Morton out of drag, in an interview with CBC the day before the performance. "They want to make sure queer kids stay alive."
All this is coinciding with a dramatic rise in hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people across North America. Police-reported hate crimes related to sexual orientation in Canada rose 64 per cent between 2020 and 2021, according to Statistics Canada.
A recent study from U.K.-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think-tank specializing in hate, extremism and disinformation, found that around the world, far-right groups, religious activists, conspiracy theorists who gained momentum during the pandemic and mostly right-wing anti-LGBTQ influencers are driving anti-drag sentiment.
Nowhere is the trend worse than in the U.S., the study found. Indeed, anti-drag views have permeated U.S. politics, with several states, including Montana and Tennessee, attempting to ban drag entirely.
"One of the scary trends I've seen is that it's — and I'm going to be careful not to over generalize — a community that seems to be fuelled by misinformation, by rage, but also by this sense of community," said University of Alberta law professor Timothy Caulfield, who specializes in misinformation.
"COVID and the anti-vaxx movement sort of gave them cohesion: They had their social media groups, COVID starts to subside, and it's almost like they were looking for another topic to vent their rage, and they found, for example, drag events."
According to Caulfield, "protecting the children" rhetoric at anti-drag protests is effective.
"If you disagree with them or tell them they're wrong or say that this is misinformation or this is about hate, they immediately retreat to, 'Well, you don't want to protect our children,' " he said.
Though there have been protests at Betty Baker's Peterborough events, her fans, who wear buttons and pins with her face to show their support, frequently outnumber demonstrators.
For Charlie, an all-ages drag troupe in Edmonton gave his LGBTQ son a purpose. CBC is not using Charlie's last name because he fears backlash.
Charlie says he considers himself an understanding and accepting right winger, somebody who was willing to go check out drag shows to see what it was all about.
"If I didn't like it, my kid wouldn't be in it," he told CBC.
Charlie and his son first checked out Dragging Youth in Edmonton in December. They don't perform in drag but they've volunteered behind the scenes, selling merchandise and taking photographs at events.
The sense of community fostered by such groups is a big deal for kids like Charlie's son.
Studiesshowthat LGBTQ youth are more likely to suffer from mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide than their non-LGBTQ peers.
Studiesalsoshow that when LGBTQ youth have support, such as a trusted adult, risk of suicide declines dramatically and mental health outcomes improve.
"He can talk to anybody within Dragging Youth," Charlie said of his son. "Show up, and they'll find him the support."
That's partly why Fay Slift and Fluffy Soufflé do what they do.
Out of character, the drag performers are known as JP Kane and Kaleb Robertson. Collectively, they have years of child-care experience. Kane is an elementary school teacher, while Robertson nannied and babysat.
They've also won a Canadian Screen Award for their television show, The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy, which airs on Family Jr. Canada.
To them, drag storytime is about literacy, joy and acceptance.
"We want trans kids, we want queer kids, we want all kids to thrive," Kane said, adding they won't stop performing amid the protests and threats.
"They ignore the beauty and the universe that is drag," Robertson said of the protesters.
"If they want to come and hold out their signs, we can't stop that. We don't need to stop that. But don't stop us from doing what we're doing."
Fluffy Soufflé says she's never experienced anything like the protest that took place at the Fay and Fluffy event in Mississauga last month, but she says it won't stop them from reading to kids.
Ex-diplomat says Poland asked him to keep tabs on Alberta politician
Story by Raffy Boudjikanian • CBC
A month after Global Affairs Canada told CBC News it was looking into claims that the Polish government asked one of its diplomats in Canada to gather information on a former Alberta cabinet minister, the dismissed consul general at the centre of the affair says he still hasn't heard from the department on the matter.
Andrzej Mańkowski told CBC News the only official he has heard from is a B.C. bureaucrat who asked him to return his diplomatic licence plates and identification.
"[Officials with Global Affairs] haven't tried talking to me," he said.
Mańkowski showed CBC News a copy of a letter dated Aug. 31 he received from B.C.'s Chief of Protocol for Intergovernmental Relations Lucy Lobmeier asking him to turn in his identity card and to return his diplomatic plates "within 30 days of this letter." She also thanked him for his service.
Mańkowski alleges he was dismissed from his post in late July after he refused to carry out orders from the Polish government to gather information about Thomas Lukaszuk, a former deputy premier of Alberta who often provides commentary to CBC News about the province's politics.
"It's clear that Polish diplomacy during Communist times, the main responsibility was to collect information, to gather information on some Polish representatives abroad," Mańkowski said, adding he felt as if the request was a throwback to that time.
"The analogy's extremely evident."
Last month, Global Affairs Canada said it was taking the allegations seriously. Spying allegations 'out of this world': ambassador
In August, Lukaszuk said he believed he had been targeted by Poland's department of foreign affairs over his activism against a controversial Polish pastor, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, who has private radio and television stations in Poland.
Rydzyk, who has ties to the Polish government, has been criticized for delivering sermons featuring homophobic and anti-Semitic views and for preaching against the European Union.
Lukaszuk also shared what he said were encrypted messages Polish government officials sent to Mańkowski asking him over the course of a year to prepare notes on the former Alberta politician.
CBC News has not independently verified these messages were official government communications. Mańkowski did not dispute their veracity in his interview.
"Asking for my opinion about Lukaszuk was just a kind of trap, was just a political test of my loyalty," he said.
Poland's Ambassador to Canada Witold Dzielski called the allegation "totally absurd."
"The idea of Polish diplomacy spying on a former provincial politician ... it's really out of this world," Dzielski said.
He said he has never met Lukaszuk and did not know of his previous career in politics before Lukaszuk emailed him about an unrelated consular matter long before the reports about Mańkowski came out.
Dzielski said that if the notes cited by Lukaszuk are real, they were leaked illegally because they would constitute private diplomatic communications.
The affair has captured attention in Polish media, where the story first broke.
In July, Polish opposition politicians cited the messages released by Lukaszuk when they asked Piotr Wawrzyk, a secretary of state in the government's foreign affairs department, whether Mańkowski was dismissed because he refused to spy on Lukaszuk.
In reply, Wawrzyk said the government could recall a diplomat who refused to carry out an assignment.
"The minister, Wawrzyk, was laid off because of a totally different subject," Dzielski said.
He pointed out that those documents were cited by opposition politicians in the context of a heated election campaign.
Dzielski also said it's normal for diplomats to be asked to gather information on notable members of diaspora communities. 'A very marginal conversation'
"We are working very closely with them," he said. "It is obvious and natural, and it is an element of diplomatic workshops, that we provide and we build ourselves opinions about the quality of cooperation with particular actors."
He said Global Affairs has spoken to him about the allegations. "We had a very marginal conversation on this which reflects the level of seriousness of this topic," he said.
A NATO member, Poland has worked closely with Canada to help out its neighbour Ukraine ever since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year.
Asked for comment, Global Affairs said in a media statement it "continues to work closely with security and intelligence community partners to assess the situation and identify next steps as appropriate."
The department said last month it had contacted Lukaszuk and that it took the responsibility of protecting Canadians from "transnational repression" very seriously.
Priceless artifacts found near untouched Beothuk site in central Newfoundland
Story by Ryan Cooke • CBC
When Don Pelley discovered the raised sides of a former Beothuk dwelling in 2016, everyone involved in the expedition knew he'd stumbled upon something special.
The circular pit was perfectly intact, where the Beothuk had erected walls about 200 years earlier. There was no sign of interference from the amateur archaeologists who swept the Beothuk Lake region years ago with metal detectors, digging up all manner of artifacts and leaving little in the ground.
It was the rarest find in that region for decades.
"At the time that it was discovered it was the only known Beothuk house pit in that region … that had not been impacted by erosion or unauthorized digging," said provincial archaeologist Jamie Brake.
Beothuk Lake was the last refuge for Newfoundland's Indigenous group. They struggled with European diseases, violent encounters, and losing crucial migration routes to colonization. Shanawdithit, widely recognized as the last Beothuk, died in 1829.
Residents around Beothuk Lake have raised concerns that the last remaining archaeological sites could be lost due to water levels on the lake, which doubles as a hydroelectric reservoir.
After the site was discovered, Brake said, archaelogists were concerned about erosion and teams have taken action to learn all they can from the house pit before it gets swallowed by the lake.
What's been done to protect the site
The area was mapped by drones, and the land was surveyed in and around the house pit. Crews removed trees that were deemed to be at risk of falling over and damaging the site.
Archaeologists have spent parts of three summers excavating the most vulnerable parts — removing important artifacts before they're lost to erosion.
Among the items found were a pair of deer spears — metal rods taken from European settlements and sharpened at the tip to kill caribou. Brake said they're perhaps the best preserved spears uncovered by archaeologists.
This harpoon tip was found near the remnants of a Beothuk mamateek on Beothuk Lake. Its presence at an inland site shows the continued importance of coastal seal hunting right to the end of the Beothuk period, says Brake.
Another item found was a pointed piece of iron, which is an exact match to a drawing done by Shawnadithit depicting the end blade for a harpoon that would have been used for sealing.
Shawnadithit was one of the last Beothuk people, captured by English furriers in 1823. She died of tuberculosis in 1829.
Brake said more excavations are planned for the area, to learn as much as they can before the site is lost to erosion.
Artifacts tell a story
The items found help archaeologists date the site to the late 1700s or early 1800s, Brake said, which falls toward the end of the Beothuk period.
Its location is also important. While water is now sloshing against the walls of the house pit, it would have been located deep inland before Beothuk Lake was dammed and flooded in the early 1900s.
It dates to a period where the Beothuk were trying to hide from Europeans who were taking over important hunting and fishing grounds, Brake said.
In that context, the presence of a sealing tool is a curious find — since there are no seals in the middle of Newfoundland. Brake said it shows the Beothuk still must have trekked to the coast at some point, despite moving further inland to avoid detection.
"It's probably a good indication of the continued importance of the coast for these people right to the end," Brake said.
More discoveries possible — but leave it to professionals
The discovery of an inland site sparks some hope that more could be discovered in places that haven't been searched before — not just at Beothuk Lake, but in other areas around the province.
Brake said it's important that work be done by archaeologists. An artifact taken without proper study is an artifact lost, he said.
"If it's pulled out of its context, you lose its meaning," Brake said. "[It's] sort of like taking a word out of a page of a book. Once it's taken out of its context, you can no longer understand what it is, what its meaning is."
The stakes are huge, Brake said. Every item can go a long way to discover more about a people who are no longer here to share their own history.
"There's such a small amount of of surviving Beothuk material in existence today," Brake said. "We lose a tremendous sort of opportunity to learn more about these people. We lose a portion of the very limited physical legacy of the Beothuk. So every feature matters enormously. Every artifact and every site."
Why producing a barrel of oil causes higher emissions in Saskatchewan compared to Alberta
Story by Kyle Bakx • CBC
Oil producers use flaring to burn methane gases, rather than release them directly into the atmosphere. Venting and flaring accounts for about 42 per cent of emissions in Saskatchewan, significantly higher than Alberta or B.C.
Producing a barrel of oil in Saskatchewan causes much higher emissions compared to the rest of Western Canada, and the province's emissions intensity is getting worse, according to data compiled by Enverus Intelligence Research.
An August report from the energy analytics firm focused on emissions intensity, which is a measure of greenhouse gas emissions that are released when producing a unit of oil and natural gas.
Since the beginning of 2021, the emissions intensity of Alberta and British Columbia has decreased, while it rose in Saskatchewan. Notably, the report also remarked on the overall slow rate of change in the three provinces.
"There was surprise around how flat the lines were on average, and also the uptick from Saskatchewan," said Ivana Petrich, a Calgary-based analyst with Enverus.
The increase in Saskatchewan's numbers is mainly due to its focus on the production of emissions-intensive heavy oil. In comparison, the emissions intensity of B.C.'s oilpatch is much lower because it's mainly focused on natural gas production.
One of the key challenges in Saskatchewan is venting and flaring.
When oil is pumped out of the ground, a certain amount of methane typically comes to the surface. Some companies capture those gases and transport them in a pipeline to be sold as natural gas. Other companies may release the gases into the atmosphere (venting) or burn them (flaring).
"If you were to compare the provinces, we see venting and flaring accounting for 42 per cent of emissions in Saskatchewan, compared to 15 per cent in Alberta and 13 per cent in B.C.," said Petrich.
Alberta's large existing network of natural gas pipelines helps to minimize the amount of venting and flaring that occurs. When a new well is drilled, a company may only have to build a short pipeline to connect to a main natural gas system.
But in Saskatchewan, a company may have to build a much longer — and more expensive — pipeline.
It's a well-known issue, according to Phil Tomlinson, an emissions engineer with Calgary-based Highwood Emissions Management, which helps industrial companies understand and reduce their emissions.
"In Saskatchewan, we don't have that [pipeline] infrastructure," he said. "It means that it's generally not economical."
Rather than venting methane gases, Saskatchewan oil producers should consider other options, like burning them or using them to heat nearby buildings, Tomlinson said.
Methane is considered to be 25 times as harmful to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
"You are better to burn off the methane than to vent it straight into the atmosphere," he said. "There are ways of destroying the methane with relatively high efficiency. It still produces CO2 but it produces less CO2 [compared to venting]."
Another factor impacting Saskatchewan's higher emissions intensity is that its oil wells are generally older than ones in Alberta, he added.
Smaller overall
Saskatchewan's oil industry is smaller than Alberta's energy industry, meaning its overall emissions are lower.
Since the start of the pandemic, Saskatchewan's total emissions have fallen but that's largely the result of a drop in oil production. The province's oilpatch emissions declined by about two per cent since the beginning of 2021, while oil and gas production has fallen by about 12 per cent, said Petrich.
Data used includes the production, transportation and processing of oil and natural gas. In Alberta, Enverus includes oilsands SAGD production but excludes oilsands mining.
Overall, total oilsands emissions were flat in 2022 even as production grew slightly, according to an August analysis released by S&P Global Commodity Insights.
In an emailed statement, Saskatchewan's energy department said its oil and gas emissions management regulations have "reduced greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from reported venting and flaring by over 60 per cent below 2015 levels.
"This is significantly ahead of the previously announced goal of 40 to 45 per cent reduction in GHG reductions by 2025," said spokesperson Jacob Fergus.
The main oilpatch lobby group, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, would not provide comment. The group instead pointed to its recent report that showed overall emissions in the conventional oil and gas sector declining over the last decade.
N.S. affordability crisis deepens as gap between living wage, minimum wage grows: report
Story by Alex Cooke • Christine Saulnier, Nova Scotia director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, is seen in an undated handout photo.
Anew report indicates Nova Scotia’s minimum wage is getting increasingly more difficult for people to live on, as the rising cost of basic necessities continues to outpace pay increases.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ annual living wage report calculates what two adults working full-time would have to earn to support two children and have a decent quality of life.
The living wage calculations reflect costs in June 2023, and take into account government transfers added to the family’s income, like child benefits, as well as deductions subtracted, like taxes and EI premiums.
“The wage should be enough for the family to avoid severe financial stress, support the healthy development of their children, and participate in their social, civic, and cultural communities,” the report said.
Global News
Nova Scotia nonprofits calling for higher financial aid for low income families
The report, released Thursday, said the living wage is $7.85 to $11.59 higher than what the minimum wage will be next month.
“Working people deserve to work to live, not just live to work,” the report said. “The cost of living is making that even harder.”
According to the report, the living wage is now $26.50 in the Halifax area, $25.40 for the Annapolis Valley, $25.05 for southern Nova Scotia, $24.30 for northern Nova Scotia, and $22.85 for Cape Breton.
On average, those numbers are 14 per cent higher than last year’s living wage calculations.
“These year-over-year increases are the most significant we have seen since we began calculating the living wage for Halifax in Nova Scotia in 2015,” said Christine Saulnier, the report’s author and director of the Nova Scotia chapter of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, in a release.
“Such unprecedented increases are due to overall increases to the costs of living, for shelter and food, in particular.” The minimum wage in Nova Scotia is currently $14.50 per hour and is scheduled to rise to $15 in October.
But even with the scheduled increase, workers will still be left struggling to survive, said Suzanne MacNeil, spokesperson for Justice for Workers Nova Scotia.
“Workers in Nova Scotia are experiencing this crisis of affordability with no relief in sight,” she said in a release.
“We can’t stop at $15. The wage floor needs to come up much higher.” Housing crisis
The report said shelter costs were “the most significant increases in every region’s budgets,” with an average increase of 18 per cent.
It said prices are soaring despite rent control legislation -- “yet the government chooses not to fill the gaps.”
“Instead, it insists that its role is ‘to balance the rights and needs of tenants and landlords,’” the report chided. “Landlords have no right to profit off tenants, nor do they need to do so. In contrast, tenants need housing to survive and thrive.”
While the province does have rent control -- with the cap increasing from two per cent to five per cent in January -- it does not apply to new tenants.
This means landlords can find ways to get rid of old tenants and increase the price for the new ones.
“The lack of provincial vacancy control, which ties rent to the unit, means that without reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act, such as closing no-fault eviction loopholes, more and more tenants are going to be displaced through renoviction or landlord-use evictions,” a spokesperson for ACORN Nova Scotia said in a release.
They include calls for employers to pay a living wage, and for the government to raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour.
It also calls on the government to expand income benefits, improve labour standards, implement a more progressive tax system, and expand public services and infrastructure.
“The living wage is one tool to help low-wage workers bridge the gap between income and costs,” it said.
“Both employers and governments must do more to help workers attain a good quality of life.”
Kaiser Permanente health workers threaten more strikes if demands not met
Kaiser Permanente workers are threatening further strikes if executives don’t meet their demands over health-care staffing and job outsourcing.
More than 75,000 workers are currently on strike in California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon.
The strike is scheduled to end at 6 a.m. Saturday local time.
Bargaining sessions between executives and workers are scheduled for next Thursday and Friday.
Striking Kaiser Permanente workers hold signs as they march in front of the Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center on October 06, 2023 in Vallejo, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Kaiser Permanente workers on Friday threatened further strikes if executives don’t meet their demands over health-care staffing and job outsourcing.
More than 75,000 Kaiser workers are scheduled to end a three-day work stoppage in California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon at 6 a.m. Saturday local time. The current strike, which began Wednesday, is said to be the largest walkout by health-care workers in U.S. history.
Nearly 60,000 of the workers currently on strike are in California where Kaiser is headquartered.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said workers will provide 10 days notice before walking out again.
Bargaining sessions between workers and Kaiser executives are scheduled for next Thursday and Friday.
Disagreements over job outsourcing have become a major sticking point in recent negotiations, according to the coalition. It accuses Kaiser of refusing to limit outsourcing and subcontracting jobs.
Kaiser, the largest health-care nonprofit in the U.S., said Thursday that tentative agreements have been reached in several areas and that the company is committed to negotiating a new contract.
Workers are also demanding long-term investments to increase staffing amid a workforce shortage. The coalition of unions has said the short-staffing crisis has led to unsafe working conditions that are affecting the quality of care patients receive.
Kaiser workers are on strike. These are the issues at stake.
More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers walked off the job this week, launching a three-day strike with direct implications for patients in what labor organizers billed as the largest health-care worker strike in U.S. history.
The organization, which serves nearly 13 million patients, said it was hopeful a compromise could be reached even as medical support workers picketed in Virginia, Colorado, Oregon and California. But a solution had not materialized nearly a week after union workers’ contracts expired Sept. 30. The strike, expected to last three days in most places, is set to end at 6 a.m. Saturday, but in a statement Friday, coalition officials said they have not ruled out issuing another 10-day strike notice after that.
The concerns protesters cited on the picket lines echo those of other health-care workers who launched strikes at hospitals and clinics across the country this year as the industry struggles to move past the burnout and staffing issues that have marked the pandemic.
Here’s what’s animating the debate:
More pay
Inflation has rocked Kaiser employees and the nation’s lowest-wage earners, effectively forcing workers to take a pay cut for doing the same jobs. And while inflation is down significantly since last summer, it began to creep back up in August, and health-care workers said jobs with Kaiser — the largest nonprofit private health-care organization in the nation — should better equip them to weather higher grocery bills and child-care costs.
The nonprofit ran a net loss of $4.5 billion in 2022 on $95.4 billion in operating revenue, marking a sharp turn from the previous year’s positive net income of $8.1 billion.
In negotiations, the coalition has requested a $25-an-hour minimum wage for workers, annual pay increases of 7 percent for the first two years of the contract and 6.25 percent increases for the latter two years.
Kaiser has said it would raise minimum starting pay to between $21 and $23 an hour, with annual raises of between 3.5 and 4 percent, officials said in a statement Friday. The coalition of unions said starting pay varies by position and region but that many Kaiser employees earn less than $20 an hour. A Kaiser spokeswoman said Friday that the average hourly rate for coalition employees is $35.75 an hour, or about $74,000 annually plus benefits.
The pandemic exacerbated a long-standing staffing crisis in health care, further straining workers who already were white-knuckling their way through shifts that put them and their families at risk of contracting the coronavirus. The task was especially daunting before vaccines and treatments were available, when questions abounded about how the virus spread.
During that time, health-care workers retired or sought less-taxing, higher-paying jobs in droves, leaving those who remained more stressed. As patients who put off routine care returned, workers found themselves confronted with an onslaught of more work with fewer employees. They pressed the company to beef up hiring to accommodate the crush of patients and help them return to a sense of normalcy.
Kaiser officials say all health-care organizations have struggled to fill vacancies post-pandemic.
Lots of jobs at stake
Doctors and registered nurses, whom patients might think of first when they visit a medical office, are not the ones striking. Instead, critical support staff and other direct caregivers, who are just as likely to impact the flow and quality of care, are protesting for a new contract.
They include licensed vocational nurses, emergency department technicians, radiology technicians, ultrasound sonographers, teleservice representatives, respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, certified nursing assistants, dietary services, behavioral health workers, surgical technicians, pharmacy technicians, transporters, home health aides, phlebotomists, medical assistants and housekeepers.
In Virginia and D.C., pharmacists and optometrists also were affected. Many who walked the picket line outside Springfield Medical Center said they had the support of colleagues who will be negotiating their contracts soon.
A strong moment for labor
Experts say a resurgence in the power of unions has emboldened members to form unions for the first time and exercise existing unions’ authority for the first time in decades. Work stoppages or threats of action have forced some major U.S. employers to back down at the bargaining table.
The screenwriters guild last week reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood studios to end a nearly five-month strike, and in July, 340,000 UPS workers won their strongest contract in decades on the strength of a strike threat alone.
The next in-person bargaining session is scheduled to begin Oct. 12, Kaiser and coalition officials said Friday in separate statements.
Lauren Kaori Gurley contributed to this report.
Why are thousands of Kaiser health care workers on strike?
5 questions answered
Michael McQuarrie, Director of the Center for Work and Democracy, Arizona State University
Thu, October 5, 2023
THE CONVERSATION Kaiser Permanente health care workers in five states and Washington, D.C., are rallying against low wages and understaffing that they say is undermining patient care. AP Photo/Damian DovarganesMore
The Conversation asked Michael McQuarrie, an Arizona State University sociologist who directs its Center for Work and Democracy, to explain why this strike is happening now and how labor actions like this can affect patient care.
1. Why is this historic strike happening now?
The two main reasons are concerns over staffing levels and practices and dissatisfaction with pay that hasn’t kept up with inflation and was too low to begin with.
Kaiser says its options are limited due to a national shortfall in all sorts of health care workers, including home health aides and nurse practitioners. Workers counter that higher pay and better working conditions would attract more applicants.
At the same time, inflation has outstripped negotiated wage increases for Kaiser workers. Kaiser is currently offering some workers in Northern California and Washington state 4% annual raises for the four years covered by the new contract and lower raises for everyone else. The unions have rejected this offer, which they say would not make up for past inflation and would unnecessarily create different wage scales based on the region where workers are located.
2. Has Kaiser’s financial management played a role too?
Kaiser, which provides health care for 12.7 million Americans, took in US$95.4 billion in revenue in 2022 but ran a $1.2 billion operating loss that it attributed to “strong economic headwinds in the financial markets” – suggesting that its investments were to blame rather than its health care operations.
Like many health care systems, Kaiser is a nonprofit. This means it pays very little in taxes. In exchange for their special tax status, nonprofits are supposed to provide public benefits.
Health care strikes are not unusual, with more than 40 occurring in the past two years. However, the industry and the workforce are heavily fragmented, which means that these strikes tend to be relatively small.
In September 2022, the Minnesota Nurses Association took 15,000 members on strike over many of the same issues, such as staffing and inflation. That strike, which lasted three days, was the largest health care strike in U.S. history by that point in terms the number of workers involved.
Prior to that, the largest was probably another Minnesota strike in 2010, in which about 12,000 nurses walked off the job for 24 hours.
Kaiser has experienced much smaller strikes in the past, such as a walkout in 2015 of about 75 mental health clinicians.
5. How much are patients harmed during health care strikes?
It depends on the strike, but usually not much.
Critical care Kaiser facilities will remain open, though the strike will likely cause some delays in care due to short staffing and long lines.
Some appointments and elective procedures at the affected hospitals are being postponed, and nonessential functions like labs and radiology departments are temporarily closed or their hours are being reduced.
Nurses, who are very important bedside caregivers, are part of a different coalition of Kaiser unions. While they won’t be on strike, they may have to help cover work not being done by aides and other support staff who are on the picket lines.
This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.
Michael McQuarrie works with and does research on unions and other organizations. The Center for Work and Democracy has received funding from United Healthcare Workers West/SEIU, which is part of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions.
Kaiser strike nears its end with no agreement — but another strike could come soon
Outside Kaiser Permanente Zion Medical Center on Friday, Luceli Boggs was among the healthcare workers who picketed on the sidewalk as part of a three-day strike coordinated by the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
A 10-day notice of another strike may be issued after Saturday, union leaders said; bargaining will resume Thursday
The Kaiser Permanente workers’ strike continued into its third and final day on Friday, with the possibility of another strike still up in the air as both sides have yet to reach an agreement.
Bargaining won’t resume until Thursday, with another bargaining session scheduled for Friday.
Meanwhile, another strike could be announced as soon as Sunday. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said Friday that it may issue a strike notice after the current strike ends at 6 a.m. on Saturday
However, any such strike wouldn’t begin until 10 days after a notice is issued.
Roughly 75,000 Kaiser workers in multiple states have taken part in a strike that began Wednesday, according to the union — among them licensed vocational nurses, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, radiology technicians, ultrasound sonographers, surgical technicians, certified nursing assistants, behavioral health workers, medical assistants, optometrists, respiratory therapists, x-ray technicians and hundreds of other positions.
The strike does not include doctors or registered nurses.
Replacement workers have been brought in to fill in jobs. Kaiser Permanente has said the strike may cause high call volumes and longer wait times for patients.
Kaiser has said its hospitals, emergency departments and pharmacies would remain open during the strike, but some laboratories have closed, including labs in Bostonia, Carlsbad, Carmel Valley, El Cajon, Escondido, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho San Diego and Viewridge.
The coalition has said they are striking over concerns about outsourcing and staffing levels that they say are unsafe and have caused high turnover and long patient wait times.
Kaiser offered a $23-per-hour minimum wage for new hires in California starting 2024, rising to $24 in 2025 and $25 in 2026. The union has called for 3.5 percent to 3 percent pay raises for each of a proposed new contract’s four years.
A major issue in recent days, union officials said, has been outsourcing. The union coalition wants limits on outsourcing and subcontracting.
Kaiser has said it has worked to address those concerns by updating an outsourcing side letter of agreement. It also said it has offered increases in funding for employee development and education, improvements to retiree medical benefits and more.
“We look forward to reaching a new agreement that continues to provide our employees with market-leading wages and benefits, and ensures our high-quality care is affordable and available to meet our members’ needs,” said Jennifer Dailard, spokesperson for Kaiser Permanente, in an email Friday.
Kaiser has been bargaining with the national union coalition since April.
Kaiser Permanente patients and picketers share their strike stories: 'So heartbreaking'
Korin Miller Updated Thu, October 5, 2023 Some patients say the Kaiser Permanente strike, which started Oct. 4, has led to procedures being postponed or canceled. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for the Washington Post via Getty Images)
More than 75,000 employees of Kaiser Permanente started a three-day strike on Wednesday, which is being called the largest health care strike in U.S. history. The strike, which affects health care workers and patients in multiple states, is over staffing shortages and what employees say is low pay.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions specifically calls this an "unfair labor practice strike" on its website, noting that workers will strike through Saturday morning. "This three-day strike will be the initial demonstration of our strength to Kaiser that we will not stand for their unfair labor practices," according to the site.
"Like all collective bargaining agreements, a number of people across the workforce were looking at ways to improve the work environment," Richard Ricciardi, executive director for the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University, tells Yahoo Life. A lot of these workers put in extra hours while dealing with understaffing during the pandemic and have continued to do so since, he says.
"Post-pandemic, they've been giving an extra yard to serve their communities, states and country, and they're not feeling valued for that effort," Ricciardi says. "Thus, they're striking to improve working conditions and salary."
The strike is also about safety and quality of care, he says. "The health care workforce is very much concerned about safety and health," Ricciardi says. "There's a pretty direct connection between the quality of the work environment and the ability to provide safe care."
Doctors and many nurses are not involved in the strike, according to the New York Times, but support staff and other employees are. Those include X-ray technicians, receptionists, medical assistants, sanitation workers and pharmacy employees — and that's expected to lead to delays in nonurgent procedures such as cancer screenings, as well as appointment times, Ricciardi says. Some Kaiser Permanent labs have also temporarily closed, the N.Y. Times reports.
Kaiser Permanente is the country's largest private nonprofit health care organization, serving 12.7 million Americans. So what is the strike like for patients and why are workers picketing in the first place? Read a breakdown, below. How is the strike affecting patients?
Some patients have spoken out publicly about how the strike is affecting them and their families, including having procedures postponed or canceled. Here are their stories:
Lisa Franceschi Schnaidt shared on Facebook that her husband, John, had appointments for lab work and chemotherapy that were canceled due to the Kaiser strike, noting that she was "still reeling" from a call she got about it. "In what universe would second line chemotherapy to a pancreatic cancer patient with metastasis to the lung be considered 'non-urgent appointment or procedure?!'" she wrote. "I’m appalled at this whole thing. Taking our foot off the gas pedal right now cannot be in John’s best interest." Schnaidt also posted on Caring Bridge that she was told her husband would have his appointments next week. "God, I hope so," she wrote.
California resident Walter Adams's wife Sue had her 10-year-old pacemaker replaced last week, but she's experienced complications. “She had some problems with it, her blood pressure skyrocketed, her thinness of her blood got way too thin, so they wouldn’t let her be released [from the hospital],” Adams told CBS 8. Doctors were finally able to stabilize Sue Adams's blood pressure and released her from the hospital two days later, but her follow-up appointment with her cardiologist to check the pacemaker and remove bandages was canceled due to the strike. “The whole thing was really stressful for me because the complications with the surgery, the way that ended and we were worried about what the outcome was going to be Wednesday at the follow up appointment," Adams said.
Michael Signorio told CNN that he spent half a day waiting to get care after suffering from a torn meniscus in his knee. “I spent 12 hours [in the ER]," he said. "You know, it just didn’t sit right. Now, why? Because they’re understaffed, they need more people.” Signorio said he has an appointment in two weeks and he's been trying to see a doctor for three weeks. "I’ve been off work for a little bit now and I’m not liking it, I’m sure work’s not liking it,” he said.
California mom Tiffany Young told NBC News that her son Caden's ear tube surgery, which was scheduled for this week, was postponed until December because of limited staffing. The 17-month-old has suffered from recurring ear infections. "That was really upsetting," Young said, pointing out that the surgery would help relieve Caden's pain and reduce how often he would need to take antibiotics. “We were talking about it all last week, this week, how we’re looking forward to it, how we hope that it’s going to make him feel so much better, and then just getting that call yesterday was so heartbreaking,” she said. “I know that it’s considered minor but, to a parent, when your baby is suffering, it’s super important."
Kaiser Permanente employees are on strike, with several workers saying there's a staffing crisis. (Watchara Phomicinda/Orange County Register via AP) (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP) Why are workers striking?
Workers have also spoken out about why they've temporarily walked off the job.
Charmaine Arellano, a medical assistant at the Kaiser Permanente Lakewood medical offices, told Fox 31 Denver that understaffing is a big issue. "Kaiser executives refuse to acknowledge how much patient care has deteriorated or how much the front line health care workforce and patients are suffering because of the Kaiser short-staffing crisis," she said. "We’re taking action because we can’t let this staffing crisis continue."
Many Kaiser Permanente workers are struggling with burnout, Jessica Cruz, a vocational nurse at Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center, told CBS News. Workers are "trying to do the jobs of two or three people, and our patients suffer when they can't get the care they need due to Kaiser's short-staffing," Cruz said.
Kaiser Permanente health care worker Rocio Chacon told CNN that workers are "exhausted," noting that the facility that she works at reminds her of the poor health care people received when she was growing up in Mexico. "I’m having flashbacks of what it was back home, me growing up," she said. "Coming into the emergency room and waiting to be seen for hours. Or even being left tied in a room waiting for an X-ray or for lab work. You might have a condition that might not be critical, but because you have not been seen within that period of time that could potentially save your life, it can be something very simple that can turn onto a bigger issue.” Chacon also said that some nurses will sleep in their cars because they have to travel two hours to get home because they can't afford the cost of living in California. "As we speak, there are nurses that are sleeping in their cars because of two reasons," she said. "One, they can’t afford cost of living here so they have to move two, three hours [away] and then because of short staff they’re working 14, 16 hours so they’re tired. So their best choice is to be Monday through Friday in their cars."
Ultrasound technician Michael Ramey, who has worked for Kaiser Permanente for 27 years, told CBS News that his job is now stressful due to staffing shortages. "You don't have the ability to care for patients in the manner they deserve," he said. "People are working more hours than they want to be working, and even that creates a problem with patient care — if you know you're going to miss your kid's soccer game," he said. Ramey said he regularly fields complaints from patients about wait times and how long it takes to even get an appointment. "They are telling you how long it took to get the appointment, and then you have to tell them how long it will be to get results," Ramey said. "There's a breakdown in the quality of care. These are people in our communities."
Mikki Fletchall, a licensed vocational nurse based in a Kaiser medical office in Camarillo, Calif., told Fox 5 that workers feel unheard by officials at Kaiser Permanente. "They're not listening to the front line health care workers," she said. "We're striking because of our patients. We don't want to have to do it."
Pamela Reid, an optometrist at Kaiser's Marlow Heights Medical Center in Maryland, told NPR that wait times for an appointment in her clinic were up to 10 business days before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now, patients typically have to wait two months to be seen, and the number of optometrists across Kaiser's service regions has dropped from about 70 to fewer than 50, she said. Patients are "really already being affected," Reid said, adding, "Our goal with the strike is to hopefully change that." Ricciardi says that there has been some misconception about why workers are striking. "There's this idea that people are going on strike because they're greedy," he says. "But in reality, only a very small percentage of money that goes into health care is actually going to health care professionals."
The strike is expected to end on Saturday. Negotiations have hit a stalemate, according to Reuters.
Kaiser Health Care Workers Enter Third Day of Strike
Thousands of Kaiser Permanente health care workers in Southern California and beyond returned to the picket lines Friday for the final day of a three-day strike billed as the largest of its type in U.S. history.
According to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, striking workers are planning to return to work at 6 a.m. Saturday.
However, union officials said they may issue a 10-day strike notice on Saturday, potentially setting the stage for further walkouts if a contract agreement is not reached
Kaiser officials said the next “large, in-person bargaining session” is scheduled for Thursday, although in the meantime, “committees and local bargaining teams representing both sides will continue to meet.”
“As frontline healthcare workers conclude the current strike action on Saturday morning, our resolve to advocate for the safe staffing that our patients need has never been stronger,” Georgette Bradford, an ultrasound technician from Sacramento who is a member of the union’s bargaining team, said in a statement released by the union Friday.
“Following this historic work action by tens of thousands of frontline healthcare workers in response to unfair labor practices by Kaiser executives, we are hopeful that the company will refrain from any further violations of federal labor laws as we resume formal talks on Thursday.
“Frontline healthcare workers remain ready to continue taking the necessary steps to protect our patients from the dangers of the Kaiser short staffing crisis and to defend our rights.*
A representative for Kaiser said in a statement Friday morning that most procedures were not delayed by the strike, and contingency plans were in place to minimize disruptions.
“We are fortunate that most procedures were not delayed or deferred, most routine surgeries were not rescheduled and our ambulatory appointment access has been close to normal, in part because we expanded access just prior to the visit and converted many appointments to phone and video.
“Kaiser Permanente remains committed to reaching an agreement that is good for our employees, our members, and our organization, and we will continue to bargain in good faith with our Coalition partners,” according to Kaiser.
The workers’ contract expired Saturday, but bargaining continued over the weekend and again Monday, Tuesday and through the night into Wednesday, to no avail. The strike began at 6 a.m. Wednesday.
“Now more than ever Kaiser Permanente needs to retain and attract qualified healthcare professionals. Outsourcing and subcontracting would have the opposite effect,” Kathleen Coleman, a medical assistant at Arapahoe Primary Care in Colorado, said in a statement released by the union Friday.
An estimated 75,000 Kaiser workers were taking part in the strike, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. In addition to California, picketing took place in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
The coalition has been pushing for higher wages commensurate with inflation, increased staffing and working conditions. The unions have also repeatedly accused Kaiser of bad-faith negotiating, an allegation Kaiser has denied.
“At issue, health care workers say, are a series of unfair labor practices related to bargaining in bad faith, along with simmering staff concerns related to unsafe staffing levels that can lead to dangerously long wait times, mistaken diagnosis, and neglect,” according to an earlier union statement
“After years of the COVID pandemic and chronic understaffing, Kaiser healthcare workers are calling on management to provide safe staffing levels.”
The union has also accused Kaiser of cutting performance bonuses for employees, failing to protect employees against subcontracting and offering wages that fail to keep pace with inflation — all issues that Kaiser has refuted.
“Frontline health care workers are awaiting a meaningful response from Kaiser executives regarding some of our key priorities including safe staffing, outsourcing protections for incumbent healthcare workers, and fair wages to reduce turnover,” Caroline Lucas of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said in a statement.
“Health care workers within the coalition remain ready to meet at any time. Currently, the strike continues, and there are no sessions scheduled at this hour.”
Kaiser officials said the most recent bargaining sessions did result in a “number of tentative agreements,” and they insisted the health care system’s latest offers address the union’s demands. Kaiser officials said the company is offering:
— “across-the-board” wage increases in all markets over four years;
— an improved Performance Sharing Plan with the potential for payouts of up to $3,750;
— minimum wages of $23 an hour in California and $21 an hour in other markets; and
— renewal of tuition assistance and training programs.
“We remain committed to reaching a new agreement that continues to provide our employees with market-leading wages, excellent benefits, generous retirement income plans, and valuable professional development opportunities,” according to Kaiser.
The company also affirmed its commitment to hiring, confirming that it has already reached a goal of hiring 10,000 new union-represented employees before the end of the year.
“In total over the past two years, Kaiser Permanente has hired more than 50,000 people to join our teams,” according to the company.
On Wednesday, Kaiser officials issued a statement saying rising inflation has led to a “massive surge” in expenses, and has made it tough for the company to balance taking care of its employees with being affordable to patients.
“As noted in a recent report from the American Hospital Association, rising inflation has led to health care experiencing a `massive surge’ in expenses driven by drugs and supplies, equipment shortages, staffing costs and supply chain disruptions,” Kaiser officials said.
“At the same time, in the wake of the pandemic, demand for care has increased dramatically, as people come in for care that has been delayed. Kaiser Permanente is not immune to these inflationary pressures.”
Among the workers involved in the strike are licensed vocational nurses, emergency department technicians, radiology technicians, ultrasound sonographers, teleservice representatives, respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, certified nursing assistants, dietary services, behavioral health workers, surgical technicians, pharmacy technicians, transporters, home health aides, phlebotomists and medical assistants, union officials said.
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