WEBVTT - When Care Workers Organize 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:02.880 Al Zon Media. 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:05.160 Hey everybody, Robert here, I wanted to let you know 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:07.800 that two of our hosts at Zitron of Better Offline 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:10.760 and Molly Conger of Weird Little Guys, are in the 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:13.520 running to win the Webbys right now or to win 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:16.960 Webbys in their respective categories. If you just google their 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:22.200 names at Zitron, Webby we bb Y or Molly Conger Webby, 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:25.360 you can find them and vote for them. There will 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:27.440 be links in the show notes as well, Sophia, you'll 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:31.840 put them in, so please do vote for them. 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:34.200 Welcome, Dick it Out and here a podcast. I asked 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:36.280 the question what happens when the people who are trying 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:38.760 to help put things back together are also being exploited 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.800 in the process. I am your host, Mio Wong, and 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.320 today we are going to be talking about a union 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:48.519 that is attempting to do exactly that. And with me 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:51.519 to discuss this are Jess and Hazeus, who are mentors 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.000 for Friends of the Children PDX and members of the 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:57.920 Friends PDX union network. Yeah, Jess, Zeus, welcome to the show. 0:00:58.240 --> 0:00:59.680 Thank you so much for having us. 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:00.720 Yeah, thank you. 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.720 Yeah, I'm really happy to talk to you both because 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:06.240 I think this is a very very unique and interesting union, 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:10.160 especially you know, talk about especially right now. But to 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:13.959 get people sort of rolling, can you explain what Friends 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:16.440 of the Children is and what it is that you 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:16.840 two do. 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:23.039 Yeah, So Friends of the Children is. It's a national organization. 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:28.199 It's a nonprofit, but they're there are individual chapters throughout 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.360 different cities. We work out of Portland, which is the 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:36.399 founding chapter and also the largest one. Some of the language, 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:38.399 I'll say that it's like used from the website and 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:42.120 from like the mission statement that really encompasses what our 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.600 role is and also how it is told to like 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.400 our community partnerships and the families and youth that we 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:52.120 work with. Is that we are committing to youth when 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:56.960 they are typically around kindergarten age level and they're being 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.920 paired with a mentor and they will have a mentor 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:04.120 or until they graduate the program, so that usually ends 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:06.240 up being a total of twelve and a half years. 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.239 And that like within that, we were doing a lot 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:13.120 of like individualized care and support. We work with them 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:15.680 in the schools, we work with them outside the schools. 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.960 We help them get into extracurriculars, We help them with 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:23.400 like social emotional regulation, developing relationships with other youth in 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:28.040 the program, and really just like being a consistently reliable 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.240 human being. And one of the big pillars of our 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:35.000 organization is the commitment to long term which sometimes can 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.600 be an issue when you are facing a lot of 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:42.520 high turnover as an organization. We both have eight kids 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:47.240 on our roster, as do most mentors, and within that 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:50.440 we have youth. I personally have youth that have been 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:52.920 assigned to me that have just started in the program, 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:56.720 meaning that they were like maybe first grade when I 0:02:56.760 --> 0:03:00.520 was assigned to them. And then I also have youth 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:05.040 that are middle school level that have had several different 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.360 mentors in the past, some that have stayed there for 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.080 maybe a few years, and like sometimes there's ones that 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:13.239 have been there for months. 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:17.560 Yeah, if I can add to that. The kids we 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:23.240 work with, they're enrolled into the program because they have 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:27.919 some risk factors in their lives that would lead them 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:31.320 to needing a little bit of extra support and help. 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:34.760 So we work with a lot of kids that come 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:40.840 from immigrant families, from families that have you know, single 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:46.560 parent households, foster care families, and kids kids that like 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:53.040 unfortunately are likely to face some challenges that our society 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:57.240 and the way it's built up will deal to them, 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:00.880 and our goal is to help them through those challenges, 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.800 just be there for them so that they have a 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:10.760 chance of you know, graduating high school or entering adulthood 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:16.000 without having you know, having had kids or facing like 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:22.400 the justice system. It's kids that we love dearly that 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:27.159 we work with in a similar way as like you know, 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:31.400 a program like Big Brothers Big Sisters. But we are 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.479 paid mentors, which is the big difference, right, We're not 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:41.160 volunteer based. We are employees basically social workers for all 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.560 of the families that we work with. It's honestly, like 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:48.280 it's a great job, and I think right now, especially 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:52.039 like super necessary because things are falling apart. 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:58.280 Yeah yeah, and yeah, just adding like one that made 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:00.839 me think of how with in the work, Like I 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:04.560 think social work is a very apt choice of words 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.360 because we are paired with the youth and it doesn't 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.800 like stop there, like we work like we work with 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.960 the families. We also work with like the siblings too, 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.760 because sometimes you'll have a youth that maybe is the 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:20.880 only child in that family that for whatever reason got 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:24.080 a mentor, and then you support also, I mean it's 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.760 a choice, but I would say that most mentors definitely 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:31.120 opt into being there for siblings and family members in 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.680 the household and making sure that they're also showing up 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:37.920 for the caregivers to help them create a loving home. 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:40.840 Yeah, And I mean, you know, I think that you 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:43.960 can you can look at this and see how it's 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.280 supposed to work structurally, And you know, you were talking 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:50.039 about like, I mean, this is supposed to be a 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:54.800 like over a decade long commitment to these kids, right 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:56.919 that ideally you're working with the same person and you 0:05:56.920 --> 0:06:00.320 know you're forming really deep emotional attachments because you can't 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.360 not do that if we're doing this kind of work. 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:08.360 But then also, you know, in order for that to work, 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.000 I think it's you know, you can see this the outside, like, 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:13.279 in order for this to work, this has to be 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.440 a job that you could stayably do for a decade, right. 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:23.440 Yeah, Yeah, which I will say we do and I 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:25.599 want to do. I want to give so many props 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:29.640 to one of our mentors who has stayed for twelve 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:33.960 years and has graduated their youth. But of of all 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.359 of our co workers, I believe it's only one that 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:39.960 has currently been able to do that and has stayed 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:41.640 there as long as I have. 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:45.280 Yeah. Yeah, And the truth of the fact, like, yeah, 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:48.440 a for any job, twelve and a half years is 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:50.880 a really long time, right, I mean six years is 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:56.320 a really long time. And with this job, we're like 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.760 we're an emotional sponge for a lot of things. Right, 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:05.719 So our kids go through everything that you could imagine, 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:10.600 and and within that, like everything good and everything bad 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:14.840 that you could imagine. And our job a lot of 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:18.560 times is like we can't solve the things that are 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:22.800 affecting these kids, but we can take in some of 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:28.880 those negative feelings and that grief, that anger, We can 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.640 take it in and almost like dissolve it a little bit, right, 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:38.120 But within that, like it can affect us so so much. 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.000 And that's where Yeah, the sustainability part of like twelve 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:45.120 and a half years in this job, like that is 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.920 a lot and and you we need a lot for 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.680 that to like at all be be possible. 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:55.600 Yeah, I mean, like that there's this way in which 0:07:55.960 --> 0:08:02.000 you're effectively what this job is is like you're the 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:05.560 person who is trying to like mitigate the impact of 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.400 like all like literally all of the structural systems of 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:11.960 violence that exist in this entire country and how like 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:14.920 how they're just sort of targeted down on these kids 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:18.720 and your job is to like try to like protect 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.000 them as much as possible. And that's unbelievable amount of 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:27.840 like physical and emotional labor. And then also like, I 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:29.960 don't know, it seems pretty bad that there's only been 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:36.520 one coworker who's been able to graduate their kids, like. 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:38.240 Just to clarify for history that's been in like our time. 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:41.760 Yeah, I don't know if like over. 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:44.120 The thirty years, I hope that other people have, but yeah, 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:48.280 in recent years it's only been the one. And also like, yeah, 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:52.240 this is a job where you are not necessarily able 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.000 to like undo the systems at play, but trying to 0:08:55.040 --> 0:09:01.079 support them. And like we as mentors are inevitably also 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:05.600 facing those systems against ourselves. And like, one of the 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:09.480 reasons that I think people gravitate towards this job is 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:13.920 their empathy because they have those shared experiences. One of 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:17.480 the things that is kind of heavy in the culture 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:21.200 of friends is being asked your why when you start, 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:24.679 like why did you choose friends? And for a lot 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:27.559 of people, it is because of wanting to be the 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.360 person that they needed when they were going through those 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:33.160 periods of time. So there's bound to be like a 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:37.080 lot of like reactivation of feelings inside yourself that I 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:39.560 think we all, like I want to say, like every 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:44.120 mentor I've worked with an incredible job of like handling 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:47.240 that and like taking good care of themselves. But it 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:51.920 is definitely something that like takes a lot of regulation, 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:55.600 and I think empathy is one of the greatest skills 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:59.000 in this job. But it also yeah, it also then 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:01.800 leads to us need greater needs of self care and 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:02.480 things like that. 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:04.920 Yeah, And like I'm I guess like people this in 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:08.200 perspective for like people listening to this as like, Okay, 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:11.720 your job is to be the person like in the 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:15.280 friend group who like manages like when someone's like having 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:17.880 an emotional crisis, like you have to like help them 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:20.920 deal with it. And that is your job for like 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:25.360 eight kids like the worst shit in the world, like 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:30.199 Jesus Christ's Oh good Lord. 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:35.040 It's honestly, like like hearing this, it's always really helpful 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.160 to hear someone's outside perspective of our job, right because 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:42.000 we get so so into it, so into the muck 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:44.360 of like what this job can be and I think 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:47.600 like overall, like like social work, it's not just like 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.760 our our job, but like I'm sure other social workers 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.760 and people in care industries like we have that like 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:59.480 continuous like vicarious trauma that makes us forget like how 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:04.360 how our job is sometimes and then it's helpful to 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.320 hear other people mention it because it's like, yeah, wow, 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:09.760 our job is kind of crazy, and and the work 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:13.120 we do is like really important and really important for society. 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:18.800 And also yeah, like it's hard. It's hard work. 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:22.559 It's it's hard, and it doesn't like really have an endpoint. 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:24.959 Like we have the hours we work with kids, and 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:28.320 then we have the hours we think about them and 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:31.320 the things going on in their lives. And sometimes it's 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:34.120 like sweet things. Like a lot of times it's sweet things. 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:35.600 We're I'll see something and be like, oh my gosh, 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:37.719 you know who love that? And like things like that 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.080 are like oh, great idea, or oh, let's go see 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:43.600 this movie. And a lot of times it's like worrying 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:48.720 though too, and knowing that there is there is only 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:51.920 so many things we can control and some things we 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:55.520 just have to be the person that's there as they 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:59.480 have to go through something which Yeah, it's it's hard 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:03.080 because we all so obviously, like developed such loving relationship 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:03.880 with these kids. 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.520 It's hard to see kids that you care about so 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.360 much that sometimes the most you can do is just 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:12.679 be there. Yeah. 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:16.360 It definitely is a job that, like to some degree, 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:18.480 is sort of always with you. 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:19.200 Yeah. 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:21.640 We have a joke about this with this job, where 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.760 it's likely if do what you love and you'll never 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.800 be free for a single second of your entire life 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:30.120 because you're just always awes. 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:34.600 Yeah, that's so true. Yeah, as you say this, I 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.040 worked till like nine point thirty last night because I 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:39.200 was like, you know what, I'm enjoying this so much 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.079 checking out with my guys, So I'm just going to 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:42.920 keep working. Yeah. 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.640 Yeah. So, speaking speaking of keeping working, we need to 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:48.840 go to ads and then we will come back and 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:51.760 talk about the ways in which this job that requires 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.640 an incredible amount of structural support to keep people there 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:57.480 for like over a decade, is failing to do that. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:12.120 And we are back. So Okay, now now that we've 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:16.240 sort of talked about what this is, let's talk about 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.400 the actual union. It was just the thing. 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.800 Yeah, yeah, so can can you talk about sort of 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.440 how how did organizing for this union start and what 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:28.520 were the sort of issues that could have brought everyone 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:29.680 to be like, Okay, we need. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:34.120 To do this, yeah for sure. So we first brought 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:41.920 about our petition to unionize in March of twenty twenty three, 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.559 so that was two years ago, a long time ago, right, 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:51.760 But the work for unionization, obviously, the organizing behind it 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:57.080 had started like much before that. When I first joined Friends, 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:01.400 it was in September of twenty too, and I knew 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:05.040 that the work had already been like happening the summer before. 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:10.200 What was the catalyst was post covid. 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:11.360 A. 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:15.400 Obviously a lot of people left, given what COVID did 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:18.360 to a lot of industries and especially care work. But 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:22.760 then likewise, a lot of people were fired and where 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.560 many would say like fired without like a full on, 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:32.320 like deep process that included a program manager who you 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.920 know was was really listening to friends and advocating for 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.640 the mentor role and they were let go, which spurred 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.640 a lot of people to want to start organizing. Some 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.800 of the issues that we face, like the pay obviously, 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:49.240 like within social work in general and nonprofit work, like 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:52.440 it's never going to match up and never gonna really 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.040 be as good as like the cost of living, especially 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.280 here in Portland, but the pay compared to like all 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:01.200 of the emotion, the work and all the work that 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:05.240 we do was just not there and not sustainable. It's 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:09.720 why people were not able to stick around because frankly, 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.560 we were looking at the same issues that our families 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:16.080 were facing of, like you know, food of insecurity and 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:21.080 needing to like get food stamps, or like needing like 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:25.160 rental and like housing assistance because our pay was just 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:30.240 not up to par. Those are a few of the issues, Jess, 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.040 I don't know if you have other thoughts. 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:34.520 Yeah, I think you touched on a lot of them. 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.360 I think it's hard to stay in this job if 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:40.280 you are looking to have a family. There's been issues, yeah, 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:44.120 with pay, with insurance, with other sorts of things that 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:47.160 have led to mentors leaving rather than like staying there 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.760 even if they like really wanted to stay there, just 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:53.240 wouldn't necessarily allow for them to have maybe like the 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:58.840 life they wanted and also just honoring. I think with 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:04.840 like bereavement leave and critical issue leave has been areas 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:09.480 that haven't really been addressed. We have had very tragic 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:13.000 things happen in the in our working community with the 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:18.480 families that have drastically affected. Yeah, the well being of 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:20.120 mentors and staff members alike. 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.040 Yeah, and I mean, you know, this is a job 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:28.760 that structurally is designed to be a kind of like 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:30.760 like again, if the goal is to have one person 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:35.760 from like kindergarten to on healthy like a graduating high school, right, 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:40.640 like that is something that requires like nineteen fifties nineteen 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.800 sixties style forwardism, Like you have one job for decades, 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:49.080 and the only way you can to that is if 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:52.680 people are incredibly well supported. And it's like the fact 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.480 that it's like, Okay, you're trying to do this, but 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.160 you're not paying people enough money to fucking afford food, 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.960 Like what the hell, like Jesus Christ. 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:06.520 Yeah, just like yeah, oh my god, yeah, or even 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.080 I mean it's still something that we're fighting. But like 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:14.440 our our workplace like doesn't provide health insurance for dependence, 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:18.080 which I think, oh my god, she's really ironic, giving 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:20.720 how much we care for kids. And then some of 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.240 our mentors and other coworkers that have kids, like have 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:26.440 to spend so much money on health insurance for their 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:27.280 own personal. 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:31.359 Kids friends of some of the kids apparently how this works, 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:32.720 I can't say. 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:38.399 Yeah, yeah, yeah, and honestly like big big picture thinking, 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:43.240 Like the reason why we like started this whole unionizing 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:49.119 project was because we care so much about our kids, right, Like, 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:53.760 I when I first started working at Friends Like, I 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:59.000 think was the first mask mentor to be hired in 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:01.840 a fairly long time, after a lot of firings of 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:06.560 other mass mentors and two of the youth that actually 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:08.160 it's more than two of the youth, but the first 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:10.520 two youth that I was matched up with, they hadn't 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:15.840 had a mentor for over two years, jeez, which is 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:19.400 a really long time. Like when you you know, are 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:23.720 five six years old, and you're used to one person 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.680 consistently picking you up every single week and hanging out 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.320 with you and spending time with you for several hours 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:39.320 for six or seven years, and then just like next day, 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.600 next week, maybe even that same day, you find out like, oh, 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.000 you no longer have a mentor, and you're not going 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:49.720 to have a mentor for two more years because people 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:53.040 keep leaving. People aren't wanting to apply for this job 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.879 because the pay isn't high enough. Right That then like 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:58.919 creates like a lot of issues with the kids that 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:02.040 we're dealing with. It's not like we are these like 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:05.840 saviors or like anything like along those lines, right, But 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:11.159 when someone has consistent support and then that support is 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:13.680 lost for a long time, especially when you're a young 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:15.960 kid where it's been the majority of your life you've 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:19.199 been having that consistant support, that then creates like a 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:24.120 lot of trust issues and like overall like attachment issues 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:27.320 that I you could face. And for me, that was 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:29.639 the main thing, like working with these kids and having 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:33.960 to like regain that trust was something that's like still 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:40.840 to this day is like really emotionally like daunting. And I, like, 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:44.760 I will keep saying this. I love my kids so much, 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:47.720 like I like can't stop thinking about them, And I 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:52.440 want to be with my kids until they graduate, which 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:55.600 would mean me staying at this job for another eight years, 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.919 which it's a long time, right, but I want to 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:02.520 do that. So I want to you know, get paid, 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:06.680 have time off when one of my sadly this is 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:09.280 something that did occur where you've passed away that I 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.320 worked with and like didn't have time off to like 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:17.399 really grieve that hard stuff. And I just want to 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:21.399 be able to stay there until they're done with the program. 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:23.840 Yeah, and it's like there's just just like a litany 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.159 of horrors where it's like one, it's like you know 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:30.359 what when there is like it's not you know, like 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:33.840 turnover in a normal job sucks, but this is like 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:37.520 when there's turnover because people can't afford to live their lives. 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:40.080 It's like you're just like ripping a hole in these kids, 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:44.639 like the fabric of their social lives. And then also 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.880 it's like, yeah, one of these kids that is literally 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:49.960 your job to care for dies. You just have to 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:53.879 fucking go to work the next day. Like it is 0:20:54.640 --> 0:21:00.000 so hideous, and it's just like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:04.520 Like it makes sense that, like yeah, if people are organizing, 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:07.879 because it's like, you know, like this organization is just 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:11.720 systemically failing both the people that are trying to help 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:14.960 and the people whose job it is to like help them. 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:19.480 And yeah, yeah yeah. 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:21.880 I think one of the things that is like hardest 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:25.159 to see while like working there is the ways in 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:28.639 which this like job that you do, like that like 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:31.679 I care so much about and love doing, but like 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:35.560 seeing this like institution in a way be like part 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:39.479 be part of the problem because if we aren't like 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:43.360 having it so that employees feel supported in the way 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:44.000 that they need to. 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:46.240 Like, life happens. 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:49.560 Sometimes people leave and like move and get a different 0:21:49.640 --> 0:21:53.159 job for various reasons. But a lot of the times 0:21:53.520 --> 0:21:58.000 it's it's because it's not sustainable and it's really hard 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:02.520 to leave, and like it's heartbreaking thing because I, like, 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:07.159 I want to graduate many of my youth and it 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:10.280 is something that I think about of like how feasible 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:12.560 is that, Like I want to do it, and like also, okay, 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:14.520 then that means I got to be frugal and all 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:17.960 these other ways are et cetera. And yeah, and working 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:20.439 with youth that have already kind of experienced loss and 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:22.080 wanting to continue to show up for them. 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:23.840 The job itself feels so. 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:25.720 Sacred and like I feel so lucky to be in 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:29.080 these kids' lives. And I think just a lot of 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:32.680 the turnover has been out of like lack of sustainability 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:35.679 for yourself, like for your well being. 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:42.440 Yeah, yeah, And I mean the turnover numbers were pretty well. 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:46.600 I think one time we calculated it and mentors where 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:51.760 it was like a forty something like turnover mentors. Yeah, 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:56.400 And a lot of that happened because in this two 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:01.240 year time period where we've been fighting for constrect they 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:07.800 also froze wage increases. So I've had the same the 0:23:07.840 --> 0:23:09.879 same wage for the past two years, two and a 0:23:09.920 --> 0:23:12.399 half years that I've been working here, you know, and 0:23:12.520 --> 0:23:16.919 in that same time period, inflation has been prettique crazy 0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:27.320 and rent for me. Yeah, yeah, which which you know gladly. 0:23:27.440 --> 0:23:29.600 Now we're we have this fight and we're at the 0:23:29.600 --> 0:23:32.080 two year mark and not at the zero year mark 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:35.199 and not looking forward to two more years of doing this. 0:23:35.280 --> 0:23:38.160 But yeah, it's it's been hard to sustain this when 0:23:39.080 --> 0:23:45.560 everything is increasing in price and our wages are completely stagnant. Yeah. 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:48.040 Yeah, So let's take one more ad break and then 0:23:48.080 --> 0:23:51.119 we will come back to talk about, Yeah, how how 0:23:51.240 --> 0:24:05.280 unionization efforts are going. And yeah, we are back. Yes, 0:24:05.440 --> 0:24:09.239 let's let's talk about how this campaign is going. So 0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:12.640 you said you've been in barketing for two years. 0:24:13.560 --> 0:24:19.400 So we had our petition for recognition on March twenty third, 0:24:19.720 --> 0:24:22.120 twenty twenty three, so that was over two years ago. 0:24:22.320 --> 0:24:26.040 And then our chez Yeah yeah. 0:24:25.760 --> 0:24:30.000