Over 1,800 workers at Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike on Dec. 12, the New England Healthcare Employees Union announced Wednesday. Ninety percent of union members voted in favor.
Weekly contract negotiations have been ongoing since October, according to Nancy Chandley-Adams, a nurse lactation consultant and union delegate. The hospital workers’ most recent contract expired on Saturday, Nov. 30.
Contract negotiations will continue until Dec. 12. If a deal is not reached by then, the union, which has over 2,000 members, will strike.
The union alleged in a statement that Care New England, which owns WIH, has failed to “bargain in good faith,” citing management’s refusal to “bargain over several changes in the terms and conditions of employment” and to “provide information” relevant to bargaining.
Care New England President Shannon Sullivan told WJAR the hospital has been “negotiating in good faith for two months.”
Management has allegedly intimidated, threatened and engaged in “physical acts against union members,” the union’s press release claimed.
“We believe they’re using that illegal activity to try and force us to send an economic proposal or package that would send us backwards,” union elected organizer Heather Kelley told The Herald.
Kelley claimed that Care New England’s current proposal would result in many workers receiving up to $150 less per week in compensation.
A Care New England spokesperson said their current proposal includes “a minimum 5.5% wage increase over three years for all union members,” among other employee benefits, in a Nov. 28 statement.
Union members are “having a hard time keeping up economically,” she said. Workers have only seen their wages increase by 3% over the last four years, she added.
“What anyone wants is a fair contract,” Chandley-Adams said, citing inflation and the pandemic as economic stressors. In the last few years, workers have had to forfeit pay raises and paid time off, she added.
A recent union survey found that 67.7% of polled workers felt stressed about “making ends meet.”
Chandley-Adams identified staffing as another “big issue.” The hospital’s mother and baby unit has been taking on more patients than recommended by professional organizations like the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, she explained.
“It’s very hard to have patients who are dissatisfied, or who feel that they are not getting the hands-on care that they hope to get,” Chandley-Adams added.
But she noted that staffing is a state-wide and industry-wide issue. A study earlier this year found that Rhode Island’s acute care hospitals receive lower reimbursements from insurers than other New England states.
On Nov. 16, over 1,200 frontline staff from Women and Infants hospital held an informational picket about staffing shortages.
“It’s been months of feeling like we’re disrespected,” said Chandley-Adams, who described striking as a “last tool” for many workers across the healthcare industry.
“Nobody wants to strike … so close to the holidays, but it’s something that people are prepared to do, because our patients have just been suffering,” Kelley said.
The hospital will continue to operate if the strike moves forward, according to Care New England’s press release.
“We will continue negotiating in hopes the union changes its mind, but patients can rest assured that the hospital is well-prepared to provide excellent care for all needs if there is a strike,” said Shannon Sullivan, the hospital’s president and chief operating officer in the statement.
“I strongly urge (the union) to withdraw its strike notice and return to the negotiating table with us so that we can dedicate our resources to our staff rather than a strike,” Sullivan continued.
Kelley said the union does not plan to stop negotiations.
“We will continue to bargain with the employers every day if that’s … what they want to do,” she said.
Megan is a Senior Staff Writer covering community and activism in Providence. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she spends her free time drinking coffee and wishing she was Meg Ryan in a Nora Ephron movie.
