Tamara Lefcowitz, coordinator for the USW's Health Care Workers Council, appeared on the Leslie Marshall Show last week to discuss how health care workers are taking safety into their own hands, organizing and collectively bargaining for better workin
Tamara Lefcowitz, coordinator for the USW’s Health Care Workers Council, appeared on the Leslie Marshall Show last week to discuss how health care workers are taking safety into their own hands, organizing and collectively bargaining for better working conditions and protections on the job.
Violence against health care workers was already a serious concern before the onset of the pandemic, and threats against health care workers continue to rise.
Legislation like the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act would provide baseline support for health care workers by compelling OSHA to establish an enforceable workplace violence standard. But health care workers also need more, Lefcowitz said.
“Health care is made up of mission-driven people who do this work because they love it, they care about people, and they’re driven to service,” said Lefcowitz.
“But that doesn’t mean that we can do them a disservice by not offering them protections, by not paying them appropriately, and by not making sure these are family-sustaining, community-sustaining jobs.”
The good news, according to Lefcowitz, is that health care workers across the country are organizing for a voice on the job, and unionized workers are winning big with good contracts that not only provide wage increases but also establish safety committees with frontline workers at the helm.
“Our working conditions are your healing conditions as a patient, and that directly impacts the patient experience,” said Lefcowitz.
“Health care workers are the social infrastructure that holds America together.”
g conditions and protections on the job.
Violence against health care workers was already a serious concern before the onset of the pandemic, and threats against health care workers continue to rise.
Legislation like the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act would provide baseline support for health care workers by compelling OSHA to establish an enforceable workplace violence standard. But health care workers also need more, Lefcowitz said.
"Health care is made up of mission-driven people who do this work because they love it, they care about people, and they're driven to service," said Lefcowitz.
"But that doesn't mean that we can do them a disservice by not offering them protections, by not paying them appropriately, and by not making sure these are family-sustaining, community-sustaining jobs."
The good news, according to Lefcowitz, is that health care workers across the country are organizing for a voice on the job, and unionized workers are winning big with good contracts that not only provide wage increases but also establish safety committees with frontline workers at the helm.
"Our working conditions are your healing conditions as a patient, and that directly impacts the patient experience," said Lefcowitz.
"Health care workers are the social infrastructure that holds America together."
