THIS TIME ON CODE WACK!
What could a Trump White House mean for your health care and your family’s? What might it mean for public health at a time when the nation is still reeling from the devastating COVID-19 pandemic? And which populations stand to lose the most?
To find out, we spoke to Ada Briceño, chair of Orange County Democrats and co-chair of Unite Here Local 11, which represents tens of thousands of workers in hotels, restaurants, airports, and sports arenas in Southern California and Arizona. Ada is also a former National Steering Committee Member for the Labor Campaign for Single-Payer. This is the first episode in a two-part series.
SHOW NOTES
WE DISCUSS
In your opinion, did the 2024 election results simply reflect post-pandemic concerns with inflation and immigration, like in so many other countries.
“I mean, every other country, right? If they were on the left, if they were on the right, they changed their leadership in a dramatic way and I guess it was our turn. I feel like it was a perfect storm. I think that we’re gonna be talking about this for weeks, months, and years to come to try to figure out the immigration situation.
“… I was just in a meeting with many of our union members, and they were like, when we knocked on doors, you know, they said, well, Venezuelan people came here in droves and got their documents, and there’s people here from Mexico who can’t get their documents to work. That’s messed up.
“… And even though our economy is in such a better state, there’s a lot of people who feel a lot of pain right now, who have a hard time making ends meet, who won $16.50 an hour, which is the minimum wage here in California, [who] can’t meet all their financial commitments with just one job. So there’s a lot of pain coming out of that. And there was this one woman who I was told said, ‘I voted for the other guy because I need to figure out how to make my ends meet.’” – Ada Briceño
What kind of impact could this election have on the lives of people who get pregnant but don’t want to be?
“Everything. It is all about every single one of our rights as women.
“It impacts us further than [just] delivering a child, right? But, you know, the work, our mental health, the environment that we bring an unwanted child into this world, whether you’re a girl or whether you’re a 50-year-old woman who no longer can have children, it impacts us in a societal way … in so many extremes. ” – Ada Briceño
What else has you worried about health care after this election?
“… that RFK Jr. will, you know, have a role … a prominent role in the public health infrastructure. He’s a conspiracy theorist, right? You know, we just went through a pandemic. We know what it means to have vaccines and we know how he feels about vaccines, and this is not the only pandemic that we’re gonna have.
“And so will he dismantle, you know, our public health infrastructure?’” – Ada Briceño
Helpful Links
Democratic Party of Orange County
How this year of elections is set to reshape global politics, Reuters
Postpartum Challenges, Especially if Pregnancies Are Forced, Psychology Today
Trauma of abortion restrictions and forced pregnancy: urgent implications for acute care surgeons, BMJ, Trauma Surgery & Acute Care
Where Trump HHS pick RFK Jr. stands on vaccines, abortion and LGBTQ+ issues, The 19th
Episode Transcript
Read the full episode transcript.
Biography: Ada Briceño
Ada Briceño has dedicated her career to uplifting marginalized voices and bridging communities.
In addition to union organizing and political work, she has led many civil rights, immigrant rights, women’s rights, and environmental efforts.
She was named one of Orange County’s “100 Most Influential” by the Orange County Register for 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2014.
Ada Briceño immigrated to the United States at age 6, when her family fled the civil war in Nicaragua.
Today, she serves as Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11, representing over 32,000 hotel workers in Los Angeles County, Orange County and Arizona.
She is Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County.
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