PROVIDENCE – Union workers on strike at Butler Hospital overwhelmingly voted to reject management’s “last, best and final” contract offer but they’re still open to negotiating.
On Tuesday, 98% of the Butler workers represented by Service Employees International Union 1199 New England voted against the contract offer, the union announced.
The union said the proposal offers the lowest paid workers in dietary, clerical and housekeeping departments an $18 per hour starting rate. For an employee who works 40 hours per week, this comes out to $37,440 a year before taxes, which is not enough for the workers to live comfortably in Rhode Island.
Also, they said the offer would "substantially" raise the deductibles workers must pay for the Health Savings Account health care plan. This puts those who are “cash-strapped” or with chronic health conditions at risk of medical debt. Instead, the union’s proposal increases the cost sharing of the plan to keep it affordable.
The hospital’s offer includes some of the workers’ recommendations for safety improvements. But the hospital wants to stop allowing those who are on workers’ compensation to return to their same position. This means employees who are injured while at work would have to reapply to their positions, the union said.
Meanwhile, Mike Raia, a spokesperson for Butler, has said the hospital’s offer sent July 11 includes “market-leading wages, double-digit percentage wage increases, two $0 premium health insurance options, 11 recognized holidays, and enhancements to workplace safety.” It also protects the employee pension and tax-sheltered annuity system.
For pay, Raia said the proposal raises starting wages for registered nurses to $36 an hour, which is a 10.8% increase over current contract pay. Starting mental health workers would see a 19.3% increase in pay to $21.79 an hour. He also noted that $18 an hour for the lowest paid workers is still higher than the state’s minimum wage.
Butler’s offer also does not change employees’ retirement benefits and keeps the pension system, Raia said. There are $0 premiums for individual health insurance plans and $21 per month premiums for family plans. These rates are far lower than the average employee premium contributions working for small employers in Rhode Island which can be as high as $160 per month for individuals and $561 per month for a family plan, according to data from Mployer, a software development and consultant firm focused on employer-sponsored health plans based in Tennessee.
The hospital’s offer also creates a Workplace Violence Prevention Task Force and creates a Workplace Violence Assistance Plan that helps employees affected by workplace violence-related injuries.
The union workers at Butler have been on an “indefinite” strike since May 15 after original contract negotiations stalled. Earlier in July, the hospital
temporarily shut down two psychiatric units because of staffing shortages caused by the strike.
“Every day that SEIU’s professional organizers and political executives keep their members on strike adds more strain to the state’s health care system,” Raia said in a statement Wednesday, adding the employees on strike can return to work whenever they wish. “...It's time for SEIU's professional organizers to put patients ahead of their political ambition.”
While they rejected the hospital’s latest offer, the union says it is “...working on next steps to improve safety, working standards and quality of care.”
Indeed, union members are ready to go back to the bargaining table.
“We’re ready to get back to the table tomorrow,” said Ben Degnan, a mental health worker in the intensive treatment unit. “We are ready and looking forward to getting back to work, but we're just not going to do it with a contract that leaves any single member behind.”
Degnan said the union is still waiting on Butler management to say when, or if, they will resume negotiations. Raia did not respond to questions on whether there will more negotiating sessions or contract offers.
Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com
