Author: Pastor KW Tulloss
I have long been a supporter of workers and support higher wages. I have stood in solidarity with my brothers and sisters who have fought and won higher minimum wages and better health benefits.
However, I am concerned about Measure HC on the November ballot in Inglewood. While I support workers securing higher wages, as written, it excludes a large majority of workers doing the same job but just at different health care facilities.
That’s not fair and not right.
Every worker at Inglewood’s health care facilities has made significant sacrifices these past several years. While many of us stayed home especially at the beginning of the pandemic, health care workers went to work, risked their health, and served our community day after day.
We cannot forget this service and health care workers deserve our thanks. However, Measure HC is the wrong approach.
The measure excludes workers at 73% of health care facilities in Inglewood where thousands of workers work every day and do the same jobs as those workers who would be included.
This creates winners and losers and we can’t support measures that out some workers into a lesser position than others. Thousands of workers at Inglewood’s community clinics, nursing homes, urgent care centers, and mental health facilities are unfairly excluded from Measure HC. The measure further excludes clinical workers like nursing assistants, medical technicians, and other workers in non-covered facilities. That’s unequal and unfair. And my question is that if such an unfair policy passes, what are the consequences?
My fear is that those excluded workers won’t be the only ones impacted, patients and residents will feel many painful consequences. For example, employees will leave excluded public clinics for higher wages at private facilities leaving those critical public facilities with even fewer workers to serve our seniors and our most poor and vulnerable. It may create longer wait times and reduce critical services available in Inglewood. This is coupled with the fact that during this time of high inflation, rising gas prices and soaring housing costs, Measure HC would significantly increase health care costs for patients and families already struggling to make ends meet every day.
I agree with raising wages and supporting workers, but Measure HC creates a bigger disparity gap within Inglewood. It’s unfair and unequal and that is something I cannot support. Inglewood deserves better.
Let’s do this the right way that benefits all workers fairly and equally.
No on Measure HC.
