PROVIDENCE – Butler Hospital has temporarily closed two psychiatric units – totaling more than 40 beds – due to the ongoing strike that began on May 15.
The state's largest mental health facility began posting jobs on May 29 to replace the striking 800 employees, comprising nurses, mental health workers, social workers and clerical staff employees to serve the hospital's 200 psychiatric patients.
However, it wasn't enough to keep the units open for the time being, Care New England Health System spokesperson Raina C. Smith told Providence Business News on June 11.
Care New England did not have an immediate timeline to reopen the two units, but hospital
Chief Administrative Officer Mary Marran said the hospital was “committed to working toward a contract resolution that will allow us to reopen these units and restore full services to our community as soon as possible.”
Marran said she remained "hopeful that a constructive path forward can be found" and praised the striking staff for the "critical work they do."
"[They] are welcome back at any time,” she said.
Also on June 11, Butler Hospital presented union leaders with its revised "last best and final offer," according to WPRI-TV CBS 12.
The hospital told the television news station the latest offer includes “market-leading wages, competitive benefits, and improvements to workplace safety.”
On May 15, hospital employees, who are members of the Service Employees International Union 1199 New England, started an “open-ended” strike after contract negotiations stalled.
“We respect the right of workers to organize and advocate for better compensation, benefits, retirement, and working conditions,” Scott Van Steeden, Butler Hospital’s vice president of operations told WPRI-TV. “We are confident that our revised last, best and final offer to SEIU provides exactly that.”
According to WPRI-TV, the hospital is proposing to raise the mental health workers pay by 19.3% to $21.79 an hour, which is 25.4% above the average regional market rates.
The minimum wage for the lowest-paid workers would be raised to more than $18 per hour, which is 20% higher than Rhode Island’s minimum wage, and starting pay would be 10.8% higher than the last contract at $21.79 per hour, according to WPRI-TV.
Union representatives said they were notified on May 29 that Butler would begin posting positions for permanent replacements, including day shift roles across all departments.
Representatives from SEIU 1199NE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to federal law, employees who are permanently replaced will not return to work once the strike ends. Instead, those employees will be placed on a “preferential hire list” and be able to return to work once a position is available, Marran
said in a June 3 statement.
On June 24, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training ruled that the striking Butler workers
are eligible for unemployment benefits.
On Monday, Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals spokesperson Randal Edgar said that the department will be meeting with state officials "Monday through Friday with inpatient and emergency departments to review and assess the situation and ensure that patients continue to receive safe, quality care."
"Access to behavioral healthcare is critical, and we are working to ensure that patients are still able to get the care they need during this work stoppage," Edgar said.
(UPDATE: Adds comments from Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals in 15th and 16th paragraphs.)
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
