CEOs make millions while health care workers struggle

In my 21 years as a patient care technician at the University of Maryland Medical Center, I've known many co-workers who are paid so little that they are forced to live in public housing, can't afford health care for their own kids and rely on food stamps to feed their families.

So when I found out that the former CEO of the University of Maryland Medical System was paid almost $8 million in one year alone ("Hospital CEO pay is sweet," Aug. 29), I nearly fell out of my chair. This seems to be a symptom of a larger problem in America, where Wall Street, big banks and CEOs make millions while working families struggle to just make ends meet.

That's why I'm organizing a union with 1199SEIU and the Heart of Baltimore campaign. We're calling on all hospital and nursing home CEOs to allow us, the workers who actually provide care every day, to have free and fair union elections. With a union, we'll have a voice for quality patient care and more fairness in the workplace. And if health care workers and our families have better lives, then our whole city, not just the country club set, will benefit.

Kim McCray, Baltimore