As a registered respiratory therapist, Rachel Maida spent the past year caring for COVID-19 patients at St Charles Medical Center in Bend, Oregon in the United States \u2013 challenging work that has taken both a physical and mental toll on the 48-year-old.<\/p>\n
The powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) she wears for 12 hours a day causes headaches, she said, and her mask leaves bruises on her face. She loves her job, but \u201cit\u2019s exhausting, day in and day out,\u201d Maida told Al Jazeera, explaining that earning between $25 and $35 per hour, she is not compensated enough.<\/p>\n
That is why nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic, Maida and more than 150 other medical technicians \u2013 a group of highly skilled healthcare professionals who typically don\u2019t have the labour protections afforded to nurses and doctors \u2013 have been negotiating their first union contract as part of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP).<\/p>\n
The post Medical Technicians\u2019 Strike In Oregon Could Be The First Of Many<\/a> appeared first on PopularResistance.Org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n