Livingston Hills NH members at their December candlelight vigil.
“It’s unacceptable that an important community healthcare institution, and one of the biggest employers in the region, is treating its workers with so little respect. We’re frontline healthcare workers, facing unimaginable challenges during this pandemic.” – Colleen Daley, CMH RN
contracted COVID-19, is pleased with the community support and recognition. She and her Livingston Hills co-workers are no longer invisible. “We’re the ones who care for and about the residents, and make sure their health and safety comes first,” she says. “If we can’t take care of ourselves because the owner takes away our health benefits, how are we going to be able to work here, to stay here and take care of our residents?” About 10 minutes north of Livingston Hills, more than 750 members at CMH (plus additional members at offsites across Columbia and Greene Counties) are in a similar situation. CMH members have not received a raise in more than a year. And in recent contract negotiations, the hospital offered low wages and insisted that 1199 members pay more for health insurance,
knowing well that some can’t even afford the current insurance. When negotiating committee members insisted healthcare workers should not be without health insurance or on Medicaid, management called affordable health benefits an “unrealistic ask.” Members said, “enough is enough.” Despite temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit and a looming snowstorm, more than three hundred 1199SEIU members with families, friends and community supporters took to the streets for a late December informational picket. Driven by disrespect, 1199ers organized the strongest worker and community action at CMH in decades. “Of course it was,” said Colleen Daley, a CMH RN for 10 years. “It’s unacceptable that an important community healthcare institution, and one of the biggest employers in the region, is treating its workers
with so little respect. We’re frontline healthcare workers, facing unimaginable challenges during this pandemic.” CMH and Livingston Hills 1199ers say negotiations moved in a positive direction after making their voices heard. “I love my job and interacting with patients; that’s what keeps me at the hospital,” says Nancy Richardson, a housekeeper at the hospital for over 20 years. “I didn’t plan to leave until I retire, but at $15.50 an hour, if we have to pay for health insurance, I won’t have a choice.” At press time, CMH members settled an agreement that includes significant improvements to wages, retroactive pay, and base rates for certain classifications. Workers also maintained their health plan and won increased employer contributions for family coverage. See the next issue of 1199 Magazine for the complete story.
1199 Magazine 19
