Jagdeep K. Singh, Hayward security officer
Jagdeep Singh is 47-year old mother of 3 who works as a security officer at Kaiser Permanente’s Hayward, California Medical Center. Jagdeep and her husband immigrated from India to America hoping to provide a better life for their children, but have been struggling to get by on the meager pay and benefits that Kaiser’s security contractor Securitas, provides.
Jagdeep makes just $10.40 per hour, and has not received a raise since she began working at Kaiser more than two years ago. This is a problem, she says, because “every other cost of life has gone up, while my wage remains the same.”
Jagdeep’s three children –- a 14 year-old daughter, 19 year-old son who is attending college, and a 23 year old son who just graduated and is looking for work -– are expensive to support, she says. Jagdeep’s husband attends college and works part-time at the post office to help the family make ends meet. Even so, the family’s monthly expenses, including more than $1300/month for rent, $100/month for gas and car insurance, and $700/month for groceries, are fast outpacing their earnings. To keep up, Jagdeep says that she has to borrow money from her family in India. “Everyone laughs at me because I am asking my relatives in India for money, instead of sending them money home. This is backwards,” she says.
The health insurance plan that Securitas offers Jagdeep and her family is also insufficient. Jagdeep has a thyroid condition that requires daily medication and monthly blood checks. But when Kaiser hired Securitas in February 2009, they made deep cuts to her health care benefits. Whereas lab and blood work used to be free, it now costs $50 every time, which makes Jagdeep scared to go to the doctor because of the cost, but also worried that her condition will get worse if she doesn’t go. Her medication also costs $20 every time she picks it up at the pharmacy. “I tell my kids they can’t get sick,” she says. “I tell them just to take Tylenol because we can’t afford to go to the doctor. I just take over-the-counter medicines to avoid getting sick.”
Securitas also doesn’t offer Jagdeep any paid sick days. Last month, she had to take two days off of work because of swelling from her thyroid condition, and she lost the days’ pay.
Jagdeep speaks bitterly about the injustice of guarding a Kaiser Permanente healthcare facility, but being unable to afford medical care for herself and her family. “Why are we the only workers in the hospital without affordable healthcare?” she asks. “Kaiser relies on us [security officers] -- if there is a problem, calling the guard is the first thing they do -- but they treat us differently than everyone else in the hospital. How can we do a good job if we can’t ensure our health? We have families too.”