谷歌留痕排名周期|【唯一TG:@heimifeng8】|电报盗号系统全功能破解技术✨谷歌搜索留痕排名,史上最强SEO技术,20年谷歌SEO经验大佬✨Why Kaiser Permanente therapists in L.A. went on a hunger strike : Shots

In many ways, it was the usual protest scene. Dozens of striking mental health care workers chanted and marched Tuesday outside a Kaiser Permanente medical center on a busy strip of Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Passing cars honked in support. People vigorously waved homemade signs.

But a few of the striking workers sat quietly under a tent, conserving their energy and mixing electrolyte drinks — their only planned sustenance for five days.

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Frustrated and feeling unable to get their voices heard after nearly six months of a strike to demand more pay and benefits, these eight therapists were taking their protest to the next level with a five-day hunger strike.

It's "an effort on our part to let them know that we are serious," said Aida Valdivia, a licensed marriage and family therapist, who is one of the hunger strikers.

Many workers on strike are already sacrificing, says Valdivia, by draining their savings accounts, going to food banks, and borrowing money from friends and family over these last months.

"We've had to limit our food anyway," said Valdivia. "So basically you are kind of starving us, Kaiser."

The workers began their strike in October, arguing that they deserve the same pension that other Kaiser Permanente workers receive, and pay equivalent to their colleagues in the same therapeutic positions in other parts of the state.

They also argue that other health care workers at Kaiser with similar levels of training, such as occupational therapists and radiation techs make up to 40% more than those in mental health.

Many say they don't have time to eat or go to the bathroom in between clients. Their demands include more time in between patients for things like scheduling and paperwork.

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Some workers have returned to their jobs, but hundreds remain on strike without pay. Organizers believe it is the longest strike of mental health workers in U.S. history.

Kaiser Permanente — an organization that functions as an insurer and as the largest provider of health care in California — has paid millions of dollars in fines in recent years to the state for its behavioral health system's failure to provide adequate care. Many fines were related to long wait times, which mental health professionals hold up as another indicator of the overworked and understaffed workforce.