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September 23, 2006
23 Hours
That's how long I was awake yesterday.
The day started with a literature drop at our largest hospital, the one whose strike deadline for both RNs and professional and technical employees is Sept. 30. I was up at 4, out the door by 5, at the hospital before 6. Had a great lit drop, saw many of my favorite nurses, techs and pros. Stopped by home to eat an eggwhite and flax oil breakfast before heading into the office (the joys of living six blocks from the office!)
After a staff meeting I went back to the hospital to pick up a few more membership forms (people who are joining our union -- we're above 85 percent!) and ate my kale salad with tomatoes and nonfat cottage cheese, pumpkin seeds on the side for fat. Then I sat in traffic for over an hour on my way to negotiations.
Negotiations. The waiting game. Started at four pm, ended after twelve am. Spent a whole lot of time waiting for the employer to get back to us on our proposals... or explain why they don't think they should pay the professionals (lab techs, x-ray techs, dieticians, social workers, physical therapists, you get the idea) the salaries they deserve for working at the toughest hospital in the state of Pennsylvania.
More waiting. Chatted with our committee -- forty dedicated techs and pros who spend their free time standing up for their co-workers and the patients they care for. Hung out with two of my favorites, a dietician and a social worker. Chatted a bit about CR... a professional dietician knows about how people underestimate their calories! I also chatted with some of our medical lab technologists about weight loss. They were wondering how I lost my forty pounds, so I expounded on the gospel of the eggwhites.
We ordered dinner, which got there at about eight (two hours past my dinner time, so I was starving!) I got a grilled chicken salad, again. It had hard boiled eggs, chicken, a few olives, and a creamy dressing that I didn't even bother with. I eventually ordered another salad on the side just to get some more volume. I was starving, having had only 550 calories that day before 8 pm and running around like a chicken minus the head for the entire afternoon/evening. Later on, when we were on a break, I went up to the suite that some of our committee had gotten for the night where my favorite medical lab technician of all time, the goddess Selena, was serving up a buffet. One of our other core members had made these amazing chicken wings (baked, not fried!) and Selena had made a seafood salad with carrots, shrimp and crabmeat. I wished I hadn't eaten dinner when I tasted the homecooking! It was just enough to hold me through the long hours of negotiations, which didn't conclude until after midnight.
Then I spent about another two hours in the bar hanging out with three of our core committee members, Edward (chief negotiator) and Luke. We talked strategy for the next week, and stared at each other in exhaustion.
We all stayed over in the hotel, as it was way too late to drive home safely, and I left this morning to do the grocery shopping. MR and I made megamuffins, then I made a wonderful dinner of cauliflower and brussels sprouts in a nonfat yogurt creamy broth with garlic and halfsalt, eggwhite cubes for protein, plus a dessert of pears with pumpkin and nonfat ricotta, Walden Farms caramel sauce, and hazelnuts/hazelnut oil. Yum!
I am so tired... and likely to be tired for the foreseeable future. Next week is sure to be filled with sleepless nights as we negotiate round the clock, trying to squeeze out of the richest hospital in the state the things that its dedicated workers deserve. I hope we can avoid a strike, but we won't settle for something suboptimal. Just like we CR folk need our calcium, B vitamins, and zinc, these folks need decent pensions, good wage increases, and some protections from dangerous working conditions.
Onward to victory!
Posted by april at September 23, 2006 7:31 PM