Healthcare Pushed To The Brink: LRI INK

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Subject: Healthcare Pushed To The Brink: LRI INK

January 20, 2022

Healthcare Pushed To The Brink

Pandemic-fueled staffing difficulties persist throughout countless industries, but it’s hard to imagine a rougher ride than healthcare at present.

Back in November, we discussed how one of the largest U.S. healthcare employers, Kaiser Permanente, appeared to see some resolution to their plague of strikes. Yet the Covid-19 saga took a turn (with the emergence of the highly contagious Omicron variant), so it’s not surprising that the bandage is no longer holding the wound closed. Further, the problem is an industry-wide one with medical workers leaving the profession in droves (and calling out sick) while remaining healthcare workers struggle through exhaustion. Meanwhile, unions continue to weigh in while bringing no feasible solutions to the table. The past few weeks kept the ball rolling downhill with several new developments:

In early January, the California Department of Public Health switched gears (while reacting to staffing shortages) and declared that Covid-positive, asymptomatic healthcare workers can continue to work without further testing or quarantine. Unions responded, including National Nurses United, which expressed disapproval with these eased-up isolation guidelines.
Hospitals (from Tennessee to Canada) began to put their vaccination policies on hold in order to mitigate the staffing crisis while Omicron increased patient inflow.
In the meantime, the Supreme Court blocked Biden’s sweeping mandate that required vaccination (or regular testing) for any employer with 100+ employees. The court did, however, uphold the mandate for healthcare settings.
Nurses across the nation began to strike in protest of increasingly strained working conditions, including low wages and understaffing. At Kaiser, mental health workers went on an MLK Day strike to demand better care for marginalized communities.
A nationwide rally (stretching into Washington, D.C.) organized by National Nurses United further demanded attention to the subject. In Philadelphia, nurses appealed to the public to recognize the crisis; and in Canada, experts warned that the nursing shortage would soon grow beyond anything that we’ve seen in our lifetimes;
Legislation (pushed by SEIU) in Washington State aims to limit the number of patients seen by each nurse and to end mandatory overtime practices.
President Biden deployed military doctors and nurses to hospitals in several states (and counting) to ease the burden on overwhelmed staff.

Bloomberg notes that the hospital staffing crush is the worst in decades with this Covid surge expected to continue into February.

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LINKS

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Union Bailout

The NLRB Telegraphs The First Of Many Knockouts Of Trump Board Decisions
https://lri.link/3fEpeRC

NLRB Announces It Will Revisit Its FedEx And SuperShuttle Decisions In Atlanta Opera
https://lri.link/3GEQKKS

Remedies Should Factor In Emotional Harm, NLRB Lawyer Says
https://lri.link/3qEDRel

NLRB Changes Position On Certain Confidentiality And Nondisparagement Provisions In Employee Agreements
https://lri.link/34QeA8k

Update: The Future Of Non-Compete Agreements In 2022
https://lri.link/3IfStqw

Labor Board Democrats Face Pressure Over Joint Employer Recusals
https://lri.link/3IkAzmx

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Covid-19

Labor Unions React To Supreme Court Blocking Biden’s Vaccine Mandate
https://lri.link/33DYsGt

Businesses React To Ruling Against Biden Vaccine Mandate
https://lri.link/3A8KOqV

Biden Can’t Mandate Vaccines, But Your Employer Can
https://lri.link/33qwNcl

GE Suspends Covid Vaccine And Testing Rules After Supreme Court Blocks Biden Mandate
https://lri.link/3Ihukj0

Employers Are On Their Own After Court Guts Biden Vaccine-Or-Testing Mandate
https://lri.link/3tzKUGO

United Airlines Just Shared A Statistic That Proves Vaccines Mandates Save Lives
https://lri.link/33Mb928

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Organizing

Union Backers Rally To Urge Colectivo Coffee To Drop Appeals, Start Contract Talks
https://lri.link/3qyIV3M

Local Activists See Amazon Union Effort As Potential Harbinger For Poultry Plants
https://lri.link/3fB4LND

U.S. Labor Board Sets Dates For Union Vote At Amazon Warehouse In Alabama
https://lri.link/3Iey8lj

Employees At New York City’s Jewish Museum Vote To Unionize
https://lri.link/3fvEws6

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Tech/Media

New York Times Loses Bid To Block Union Election Of Tech Workers
https://lri.link/32e7DgA

Who Gets Called A 'Tech Worker' Is The Big Question For 2022
https://lri.link/3nBfNae

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Tribal Law/Gaming

Ninth Circuit Materials In Unite Here Local 30 v. Sycuan Band Of Kumeyaay Indians
https://lri.link/3KnALTR

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Waste Management

Trash Left Uncollected As Seattle-Area Sanitation Workers Join Strike
https://lri.link/3nwzVu0

Sanitation Workers On Strike Throughout San Diego Area
https://lri.link/3fAK1pi

Trash Strike Ends As Republic Services’ Union Workers Agree To ‘Final Offer’ Deal
https://lri.link/3qzZ6xN

Chula Vista Declares Emergency Amid Trash Service Dispute
https://lri.link/3KnwUG2

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Gig Economy

Uber, Airtasker face new worker protection rules as Victoria overhauls gig economy
https://lri.link/3A7EMa9

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Subject: Healthcare Pushed To The Brink: LRI INK