National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Wednesday is Healthcare Workers National Day of Action and healthcare workers plan to picket 5:30-8:30 a.m. in front of University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) in Albuquerque.

While practicing physical distancing, healthcare workers are prepared to confront the hospitals failure to keep workers safe as part of a coordinated National Day of Action by healthcare workers across the country.

University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) workers have been raising the alarm about safety for nearly six weeks.

CEO Kate Becker has refused to respond to the most serious concerns that workers have voiced about their working conditions; access to PPE, paid administrative leave for those who have been placed on quarantine, safe working conditions for those essential workers inside the hospital, hazard pay, and a failure to bargain collectively.

COVID-19 is unlike any other contagious disease we have ever experienced. The response must not be a business model of “business as usual” that disregards worker safety and forces UNMH workers to bear the brunt of this disease.

Workers have waited long enough for the implementation of safe working conditions, access to necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), paid administrative leave for those exposed/under quarantine, and acknowledgement of the risks, workers are stepping up to care for New Mexico by hazard compensation to employees directly impacted. 

Workers want New Mexico residents to understand that they are not “heroes” and refuse to die at work. This is part of a larger failed system, that instead of standing up to government inaction, UNMH has chosen to follow the same trend as hospitals across the country by conceding to diminished safety standards, a false sense of security in light of scarce resources, and failing to stand up to the ineptitude of leadership.

Workers say, “the system is broken”, #ProtectAllWorkers #GetMePPE #HazardPay #TheSystemIsBroken.

About National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees

Organized since 1974, District 1199NM of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, represents all levels of health care employees. We protect all workers; we promote and safeguard the economic interests of our members and families; we organize to achieve improved working conditions, shorter and better scheduled hours, health, benefits, and higher wages.

National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees AFSCME / AFL-CIO 130 Alvarado Dr. NE Suite 100 Albuquerque, New México  87108 Phone: 505.884.7713 Fax: 505.884.7667 www.nmhospitalworkersunion.com.