News of the Week: Feb. 1 – 7
Each week we share articles on subjects that are important to NUHW and its members. Here are several must-read stories over the past seven days:
Our Feb. 1 Sodexo worker strike outside Fountain Valley Regional Hospital was covered by Southern California’s top publications, including the Los Angeles Times. The Orange County Register ran an op-ed supporting the cause of striking workers and OC Weekly covered the strike as an update to its earlier story about the plight of Sodexo workers seeking their first union contracts.
The Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General is launching a review of how Trump administration officials crafted a proposed rule that would allow employers to keep tips given to their employees, according to the Washington Post. The move followed reports that the department had ignored an economic analysis that found such a measure would drain “billions” from workers’ pockets.
The move to let employers seize tip money is just one of many anti-worker policies initiated by the Trump Administration.
The Community Health Center program, which serves 27 million people at nearly 10,000 nonprofit clinics nationwide, is scheduled to run out of funding March 31, according to California Healthline. Congress, which has allocated $3.6 billion annually to the health centers in recent years, was expected to renew long-term funding for the centers in January, but an agreement never materialized. The budget impasse has already forced many centers in California to freeze hiring, put off service expansions and tap financial reserves.
Assebmlymember Evan Low, D-Campbell, held a hearing Tuesday to explore ways the state can leverage its status as the cradle of technology to take on the opioid addiction crisis, the Sacramento Bee reports. Low and his colleagues have offered a slate of proposals to address the crisis, including legislation introduced this week that would limit prescriptions for opioids to no more than three days.