Women and Infants union votes for informational picket on ‘unfair labor practices’
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Service Employees International Union 1199NE said that caregivers at Women and Infants Hospital voted yes to authorize an unfair labor practice informational picket on Nov. 12.
The union said nearly 1,500 workers voted yes, which constituted “99.9% of workers who participated” in the vote.
The alleged unfair labor practices included “intimidating, threatening, and in the most extreme cases – engaging in impermissive physical acts against union members and staff in retaliation for their testimony against the hospital in a federal unfair labor practice trial before an Administrative Law Judge of the National Labor Relations Board.”
The union added that at previous contract bargaining sessions, hospital management “offered proposals that will erode job standards, trample union rights, and fail to solve the staffing crisis.”
A spokesperson for the hospital said that its leadership has been “working in good faith” towards a new contract and that claims of unfair labor practices are “false.”
“We are extremely disappointed that the union has chosen to spread erroneous information rather than dedicate its time to the bargaining table,” the hospital said.
“Staffing has been a constant issue especially on the second and third shift which generally is very difficult to fill,” union member Doreen Engeian said. “This administration’s solution has been to mandate the worker on the off going shift to cover the vacancy which translates into a 16 hour shift.”
The full statement from the hospital can be read below:
Women and Infants Hospital’s leadership has been working in good faith with SEIU 1199 members since mid-October toward an amicable contract resolution. SEIU’s claims that Women and Infants Hospital has engaged in unfair labor practices at today’s press conference are false, and we are extremely disappointed that the union has chosen to spread erroneous information rather than dedicate its time to the bargaining table. In the past decade, the union has filed more than 30 unfair labor practices. The hospital proactively resolved three of the issues with the union and to date the National Labor Relations Board has not found WIH to have engaged in any illegal or unlawful activity against the union by the national labor board. We remain committed to continuing open, honest, and transparent negotiations with SEIU so that we may resolve any issues as quickly as possible.
