FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
January 23, 2024

CALABASAS, Calif. –  Healthcare workers at the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) long-term resident care facility will hold a protest on Tuesday, January 28, to demand solutions to chronic short staffing, unaffordable healthcare costs, and wages that don’t keep up with inflation. They say that addressing these issues will help keep the residents safe so they can provide the best patient care possible.

Healthcare workers at MPTF say persistent understaffing has forced employees to take on multiple roles, such as secretaries performing Certified Nursing Assistant duties, which is unsafe for residents and staff. Long-serving caregivers find it increasingly difficult to afford MPTF’s high-cost health insurance, which they say will only exacerbate high turnover and make it difficult to attract new staff. Most recently, there were at least six patient safety deficiencies found in a federal inspection.

“When healthcare workers are stretched so thin, patients suffer,” said Saida Ramos a licensed vocational nurse at MPTF. “We are committed to our patients, but MPTF must do its part to provide the resources we need to deliver the quality care they deserve.”

Longtime employees are being priced out of the area due to stagnant wages and rising costs, creating a dangerous cycle of turnover that further jeopardizes the resident’s safety. Caregivers are calling on MPTF to invest in its healthcare staff by ensuring safe staffing levels, fair wages, and affordable healthcare. They work in various jobs, including residential care assistants, certified nursing assistants, licensed vocational nurses, environmental services, cooks, and technicians.

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SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected healthcare workers.