Butler Hospital union healthcare workers to begin open strike on May 15
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — SEIU 1199 New England announced on Tuesday that Butler Hospital workers will begin an open strike on May 15.
According to SEIU 1199 NE, the union representing over 800 Butler Hospital staff, bargaining with the hospital “failed to produce any meaningful progress to address chronic short staffing, low wages and workplace violence.”
On April 21, the union held an informational picket outside the hospital, calling for an end to the “workplace violence epidemic,” which SEIU 1199NE said stemmed from short staffing and low wages. According to the union, there are 116 open positions at Butler Hospital.
Just four days later, on April 25, 91% of Butler Hospital frontline staff voted to strike due to “management’s refusal to address their ongoing concerns.”
“After almost two months of negotiations, Care New England has failed to consider our proposals to offer needed training, raise wages and confront the workplace violence epidemic we experience almost daily,” SEIU 1199 NE Bargaining Committee Member Dawn Williams said. “At the end of the day, if we don’t solve these core issues, it is our patients who will suffer the consequences from the revolving door of staff who refuse to put their safety in jeopardy for the low wages we earn.”
Despite a call for strike, SEIU 1199 NE said it is still willing to bargain with Butler Hospital to agree on a fair contract.
In response to the strike notice, a spokesperson for Butler Hospital said it is “deeply disappointed,” and has done “everything possible to avoid this outcome,” including proposals that address workplace violence, a rewards package with “generous wage increases,” and a “competitive benefits package.”
Additionally, the spokesperson said the hospital is willing to reach a “fair and sustainable agreement.”
In the case of the strike, Butler Hospital will continue to accept patients.
Butler Hospital released the following full statement:
“Butler Hospital is deeply disappointed that SEIU 1199 NE has chosen to issue a notice of intent to strike. Butler Hospital has done everything possible to avoid this outcome, making comprehensive proposals that further our goal of addressing workplace violence and offering a total rewards package that includes generous wage increases, as well as a competitive benefits package.
On April 15, the union responded to the hospital’s opening wage proposal, the largest in over a decade, with a demand for an average 79.3% wage increase from their current rates over two years. The hospital counter-proposed wage increases between 15.6% and 32% over the life of a four-year contract. When talks resumed on April 29, the union offered no meaningful response to the hospital’s April 15th counterproposal, adjusting their wage proposal to an average of 71.1% from their current rates over two years.
Striking will not bring us closer to an agreement. It will only result in lost wages for employees. We will, however, remain open and ready to accept patients during a strike. We have contracted with a third-party vendor to ensure the care our patients depend upon us for remains uninterrupted. We urge the union to reconsider this path and return to the bargaining table prepared to engage in productive dialogue.
Butler Hospital remains committed to reaching a fair and sustainable agreement, but it takes both sides working constructively. At the conclusion of the April 29th bargaining session, the hospital recommended using mediation resources available through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). The hospital is hopeful that FMCS’s involvement will help move the parties toward an agreement.”
