“I have been active in my union for the past seven years. Playing an active role in my local has allowed me to advocate for my fellow union members. Many people may not have the courage to speak up, and knowing you have an advocate to help you do that can feel empowering for many.
In the early COVID days, frustrations were really high. There was a shortage of PPE and a lot of advocating around that. In addition to the PPE shortage, directions, policies, and procedures were rapidly changing daily, causing a lot of frustrations. But we rolled with the punches pretty quickly and adapted.
Looking back now, I’m proud of all my coworkers because we came together as a team. I feel we are a stronger team today because of it all.
Our lab had to completely change how we delivered our services overnight, which created a lot of extra workload in addition to staffing challenges. That feels like a long time ago now and we feel like we are on the finish line.
We deal with sick people daily, and you just want them to forget they are sick for that one moment. That’s rewarding for me. I like to make sure people know that they’re not just a number and that we are there to help.”
Amy, medical laboratory assistant, part of the health care team