Volume 1 Issue 9 July 24, 2020
Hearts and Hands Care Workers Need a Hand
Staff at Hearts and Hands Post-Acute Care and Rehab Center in Live Oak are joined by Operating Engineers, Pajaro Valley Teachers, other unions and community members to stand with Black Lives Matter and protest for a living wage, July 20.

Photo by SARAH RINGLER
Healthcare Workers Disrespected
By SARAH RINGLER

Hearts and Hands Post-Acute Care and Rehab Center, 2990 Soquel Ave., has a nice loving name. But it’s not so nice for eighty Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA), Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN), housekeepers, dietary/kitchen staff and janitors who are doing the very challenging and difficult work of assisting vulnerable elderly and disabled people.

On July 20, SEIU 2015 held a Black Lives Matter Day of Action at the Hearts and Hands to support workers in demanding a living wage and the right for every worker to join a union. Over twenty-five staff members and supporters from across the community marched and chanted in support.

For over a year, staff has been trying to negotiate a new contract and get a raise. CNAs now make around $17 an hour, and housekeepers, dietary staff and janitors make $13-15 an hour, not enough to support themselves in this county.

Owner, Bobby Singh, “has shown up to multiple bargaining sessions without a written response and provided his proposal verbally,” according to Cesar Sanchez, SEIU 2015 staffperson. Singh’s proposals include a 1.25% increase in six months after ratification and no back pay. It sounds like the usual stall, stagnate and do nothing that many union negotiators have experienced, a path to nowhere for the workers, and continued profits for the boss. Sanchez and the workers believe that Singh wants to get rid of the union by instituting open shop, end vacations and sick leave as well as end the right to strike under an expired contract.

One would think that an owner who cares about his patients and the reputation of his business would care about his staff, the people who serve his patients. High turnover caused by low pay and now, with Covid-19, makes it more difficult for patients to get the consistent care that they need.

Times are tough for many businesses, but Heart and Hands gets most of its revenue from the government through Medi-Cal. They also just received from the state, a Quality and Accountability Supplemental Payment, QASP, grant of $72,284.02 that was a result of the staff’s hard work. That money should go towards a raise.

If you’d like to support these hard-working people, you can call Bobby Singh at his direct phone number at 510-468-1909, or the office number at 831-479-9000, and tell him to pay his staff a living wage and negotiate the contract now. They will negotiate again on July 30.
Local Elections on the Horizon
By SARAH RINGLER

Fall's city council elections in Watsonville and Santa Cruz are not that far away. Watsonville has seats in three districts up for election. Santa Cruz has four seats and there are already a dozen candidates. Now is the time to get involved and learn about the candidates.

There are two forums sponsored by the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council and local labor unions. They invite community members to join Zoom calls and watch candidates make their statements and answer questions. Following the forum, the various participating groups will each caucus to discuss the candidates and deliberate on their endorsements. 
Watsonville City Council Endorsement Forum:
July 28, 6pm   Click here to j oin Watsonville Forum with this Zoom link .
(Audio-only phone-in number: +16699006833,,8314224626#)
Santa Cruz City Council Endorsement Forum:
July 30, 6pm Click here to join Santa Cruz Forum with this Zoom link.
(Audio-only phone-in number: +16699006833,,8314224626#)
Santa Cruz for Bernie, SC4B, members will leave the forum meeting at approximately 7:30pm and join their own Zoom to caucus, discuss, and vote for endorsements.
Join SC4B Caucus after the forums with this Zoom link .
(Audio-only call-in number: +16699009128,,86809909888#,,,,,,0#,,574328#)
You must be a city resident to vote for Council candidates in November, but since city policies can affect the region, all SC4B members may participate in our endorsement votes.
People's Democratic Club will hold a Candidates' Forum for Santa Cruz City Council seats on Aug.13 on Zoom in the evening. Stay tune for more information.

Although the comet NEOWISE is visible over our skies, since most of us aren't likely to get to France in the next few weeks, here it is over Mont-Saint- Michel.
Photo by THIERRY LEGAULT

Some “Sky-Lights” Viewable Hereabouts
A Little "Cosmic Relief" 
By JOE JORDAN
 
In the upcoming days and weeks, if it ever clears up in this "no-sky July," soon to be "Fog-ust," you can go out at night and admire several beautiful and interesting phenomena, "high lights," of the night skies.

First, while it's still in Earth's vicinity, try to see the comet NEOWISE, an acronym derived from name of the spacecraft whose instruments enabled its discovery. After being visible in pre-dawn skies a couple of weeks ago, it's now getting higher in the evening northwest sky, below the bowl and handle of the Big Dipper. The best time for viewing is around 9:45 pm. For a good sky map that points out its changing position and for many wonderful photos from around the world, go to  skyandtelescope.org . As of July 22, in our area, NEOWISE passed its closest approach to Earth. It is still faintly visible and will be for another week or two to the naked eye, and quite beautifully in binoculars! If the fog and clouds persist, you will need to get to higher ground.

While you're outside at night and looking up, turn around and look to the low southern sky for the arresting sight of the solar system's two biggest planets appearing quite close together. Saturn is on the left and the very bright Jupiter, is a little to the right. They'll be dominating our night skies all summer, then slowly drifting westward into the star-fields, as the weeks go by.

Finally, if you're really up for a challenge, and want to become one of the few people in the world who have ever done this - even though it's not really all that difficult - the brightest planet of all, Venus, can now be seen in broad daylight between around 10 am to 1 pm or so. If you look about two outstretched-hand-widths to the right of the sun when the sky's really clear, you can spot what looks like a star, just hanging there in the blue sky! You will need to block out the sun with a tree, pole, corner of a roof, or whatever works.
 

And if you get up just before dawn, while it's still very dark, with no moonlight or artificial light intruding, you can actually see your own shadow cast by Venus! Facing away from Venus and moving a bit, you will see your moving shadow in a faint light. It will be quite subtle, but if you're out somewhere really dark on an early morning sometime in these next three or four weeks, Venus is actually bright enough that it'll be definitely possible to observe that special, quiet wonder of nature.

Dog Diapers and Rubber Bands for PPE
"In one of the longest strikes in McDonald's history, 33 workers at a store in Oakland struck May 26; 12 had tested positive for coronavirus, and so have eight of their family members. Workers are demanding proper personal protective equipment, PPE, and a 14-day paid quarantine. Before the strike, management had given them dog diapers and rubber bands and instructed them to construct masks. Community members helped workers block entrances and then disrupted the lunch rush at a different store in the same franchise." Labor Notes, July 2020
Sarah's County Covid-19 Report
By SARAH RINGLER

The Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly releases data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. As of July 23, there are 848 cases who have tested positive. This is an increase of 20% from last Thursday. Four people, an increase of one since last week, have died.

 To get tested without a doctor’s request, call 1-888-634-1123 or go online at https://lhi.care/covidtest ing . The testing clinic is at at Ramsay Park in Watsonville.

To visit the website for the Santa Cruz County Health Department:
Weekly increases in positive tests:
June 12-19 - 7%
June 19-26 - 23%
June 26 to July 3 - 22%
July 3-9 - 23%
July 9-16 - 40%
July 16-23 - 20%

Tested positive by gender:
53% female
46% male
0% other

Tested positive by jurisdiction:
4% Capitola
18% Santa Cruz
2% Scotts Valley
19% unincorporated
49% Watsonville
Under investigation 8%
Tested positive by age:
17 and under - 12%
18-34 - 36%
35-49 - 23%
50-64 - 20%
65 or older, 9% tested positive

Tested positive by ethnicity, rounded off:
8% multiracial or other - 9% of the county's total population
42% white - 56% of the county's total population
50% Latinx - 34% of the county's total population

“We are free, truly free, when we don't need to rent our arms to anybody in order to be able to life a piece of bread to our mouths." Ricardo Flores Magon

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