essay
UC’s dishonest outsourcing Workers at UC Davis rehab clinic get pink slips
by Jasmine Tobin
Jasmine Tobin, with her son Vincent, is an occupational therapy assistant at UC Davis Medical Center and a member of AFSCME Local 3299.
Over the last several years, the University of California has insisted that it is not trying to privatize the nation’s premier public university system and our state’s third largest employer. It outsourced UC workers and the university’s has claimed that it is not outsourcing what were relentless efforts to create more of them. once middle-class jobs in favor of lower-wage Beyond hollowing out its workforce of contractors. professional health care providers, the university I’ll be blunt: UC is lying. is doing the same to campus jobs. Look no further For the past six years, I have served as a certithan UC Berkeley, where years of outsourcing its fied occupational therapy assistant at UC Davis groundskeeping staff left it ill-equipped to stop Medical Center in Sacramento. I help patients an entirely preventable loss of life on January 6, as young as 6 months old suffering from brain when a tree uprooted by a violent storm fell on a and spinal cord trauma, strokes and other serious car and killed the 32-year-old driver. injuries recover and relearn the skills they need to Instead of addressing the trail of poverty and lead a normal life. human tragedy that its race to the bottom is creatI chose to move my family to Sacramento for ing, UC’s leadership has repeatedly pleaded this job not only to provide for my two ignorance about these practices and young children, but to build a career issued blanket denials. of public service. My colleagues My children and my and I are highly skilled at what colleagues know the truth. We know that the we do, helping to rebuild lives We know that the only thing shattered by tragedy. worse than kicking dedionly thing worse than But now, we’re having our cated care providers to the kicking dedicated care own lives shattered—by the curb is to somehow pretend providers to the curb is University of California. you are not. Last May, UC Davis As a taxpayer-funded to somehow pretend informed me and nearly 60 employer entrusted with you are not. fellow therapists, nurses and molding the next generation support staff that it would be of California leaders, UC is not closing our clinic as part of the practicing the principles of fairuniversity’s new $60 million Aggie ness, dignity and equality it professes Square development. to teach in the classroom. Our supervisors told us our jobs were being For workers like me and my colleagues, UC’s eliminated and we could apply to work for dishonesty comes at a very high cost. Kindred Healthcare, the private contractor But we are not powerless to stop them. Tens being brought in to operate the new rehab of thousands of workers, students and others have clinic. already raised their voices to demand that UC There is no guarantee that Kindred will treat its workers fairly and stop outsourcing our hire us, and at best, we’ll see lower pay, fewer jobs. benefits and even less job security. Now is the time for California’s elected leadWe’re not alone. The last few years have ers to join us. Ω seen a steady stream of scandal and outrage over the deplorable conditions faced by 6
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sN&R
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02.28.19