FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
STATEMENT by Geoconda Argüello-Kline regarding increasing the diversity of the Patient Protection Commission (AB348):
As Nevada’s largest organization of workers, immigrants, Black, Latinx, AAPI workers, and women, the Culinary Union urges the Nevada Legislature to ensure the Patient Protect Commission reflects the diversity of our state, include patients on its board (especially workers and people of color), and hear regular input from Black and brown patients.
Communities of color cannot have true health care equality and overcome current racial inequality and disparity without better representation and our voices.
*According to the CDC, Black women are 3.2 times likely to die during pregnancy than white woman.
*A 2016 PNAS study found that doctors diagnose and treat Black Americans differently for pain management partly because of a mistaken (and horrific) belief that some medical professionals have that Black people feel pain differently than white people.
*Even before COVID-19, Black men and women in the United States were dying sooner than any other ethnicity. When you consider the damage caused by COVID-19, Black folks are dying at 1.4 times the rate of white people, according to data from the COVID 19 Tracking Project.
Workers of color would like to see our Patient Protect Commission be more representative of Nevada - which means including more Black and brown voices (including women of color) on the commission, that the commission address racial inequities in health care, and regularly include the Black and brown patient voices.
The Culinary Union urges the Nevada Legislature to support and pass AB348.
—
ABOUT CULINARY UNION:
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.
The Culinary Union, through the Culinary Health Fund, is one of the largest healthcare consumers in the state. The Culinary Health Fund is sponsored by the Culinary Union and Las Vegas-area employers. It provides health insurance coverage for over 145,000 Nevadans, the Culinary Union’s members and their dependents.
The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest Latinx/Black/AAPI/immigrant organization with members who come from 178 countries and speak over 40 different languages. We are proud to have helped over 18,000 immigrants become American citizens and new voters since 2001 through our affiliate, The Citizenship Project.
The Culinary Union has a diverse membership which is 55% women and 45% immigrants. The demographics of Culinary Union members are approximately: 54% Latinx, 18% white, 15% Asian, 12% Black, and less than 1% Indigenous Peoples.
Culinary Union members work as: Guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers. The Culinary Union has been fighting for working families in Nevada for 86 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
###