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Boston Globe
04-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
In third week of strike at R.I. psych hospital, Butler posts job ads to replace striking nurses
Related : Striking employees who have been permanently replaced will not be able to return to work once the strike ends. Instead, those employees will be placed on a 'preferential hire list,' said Marran, and would be able to return once a position becomes available. Advertisement This is Care New England's latest move to attempt to bring employees back to work amid the ongoing strike. The hospital system terminated workers' health insurance effective this month, forcing hundreds to sign up for free or low-cost health insurance through the state insurance marketplace. Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Mary Marran's claims of heartfelt concern for Butler Hospital employees are perverse in light of her decision to replace dedicated frontline staff — some of whom have served the hospital since graduating high school — with out-of-state, temporary workers,' said Jesse Martin, the executive vice president of SEIU 1199 New England, the union that represents these workers. Martin also called the moves by the hospital 'immoral' and 'illegal in light of the hospital's unfair labor practices.' The union filed claims of unfair labor practices against Butler on May 12. Advertisement Jesse Martin, the executive vice president of SEIU 1199 NE, yells into a microphone to the crowd. Lane Turner/Globe Staff If the subject of the strike is to have the employer concede some economic concession — such as higher wages, shorter hours, or better working conditions — striking workers cannot be discharged, but they can be replaced by their employer under certain circumstances, 'Stripping Butler employees of their job security and healthcare benefits is not how you build a better hospital,' said Martin. Dan Camp, who works in the behavioral call intake center, said he has been working at Butler since he was a teenager. 'There is no Butler without the dedicated staff who have devoted their lives to this institution,' said Camp. 'Mary Marran and Michael Wagner [Care New England's chief executive] need to return to the bargaining table and settle this contract fairly.' Niki Anthony, a registered nurse and member of the union's negotiating committee, said Care New England's representatives were delaying negotiations and not negotiating in good faith. She marched to Wagner's office last week to demand leaders settle a fair contract. 'Enough is enough,' said Anthony. 'It's time to get this contract done.' Dr. Michael Wagner is the president and chief executive at Care New England, the state's second largest hospital system. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff The strike, Advertisement Butler Hospital has spent millions on The union is seeking increases in pay and staffing levels, and wants concerns over a rise in workplace violence addressed. Plus, while current staff have pensions, the hospital wants new hires to have contribution plans for retirement, which are similar to 401(k)s. Both sides' positions on how to handle those issues remain far apart. Marran said in a statement that the union has not been prepared for negotiation sessions, and has focused on 'internal union matters.' When asked for further details, Marran said the union wanted more access to the hospital, including additional opportunities to meet with newly hired employees beyond the current contractually-provided time available during new hire orientation. 'The union focused on additional access to new hires, rather than core issues important to employees like wages, retirement, and insurance,' said Marran. Union leaders also claimed Butler's negotiating team did not respond to a proposed non-discrimination proposal that included protection for non-English speakers. Butler's leaders have not responded to the workers' workplace violence committee proposal either, union leaders said. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at
Boston Globe
29-04-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
‘You sacrifice your life': Home health care workers are demanding better pay. Cuts to Medicaid could stand in their way.
Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up 'You sacrifice your life so someone else can have one,' said Moshier. 'I've done that for the last three years without a full day off, no matter how I've felt, no matter how sick I was, or how much physical pain I've been in due to my own physical ailments.' Advertisement Moshier makes $21 an hour for a 40-hour week, or less than $44,000 annually — a rate that cannot contend with Advertisement It's a system that is not sustainable and deeply broken, advocates say. Now Moshier and thousands of other home health care workers who care for some of the state's frailest residents are fighting for change. In March, Moshier and nearly 2,000 fellow home health care workers in Rhode Island overwhelmingly voted to unionize, marking the largest election of state workers since the 1980s. They'll join the SEIU 1199NE union. 'This is the lowest wage health care job in the state of Rhode Island,' said Jesse Martin, SEIU 1199's executive vice president. 'They are working in apocalyptic conditions.' These Rhode Island workers are part of a broader effort by home health care workers and the unions trying to organize them nationally to demand better wages and benefits. But they may face an uphill battle, due to Proposed changes in federal funding and policy 'are likely to have wide-ranging impacts on health and human services programs and resource availability moving forward,' said Kerri White, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the state agency that runs the home care programs. White said any federal changes 'may require us to make difficult decisions to preserve the progress we have made' while also reallocating investments elsewhere. US House Republicans have proposed Advertisement Home health care workers, who call themselves the 'invisible workforce,' help seniors and people with disabilities who live at home with daily needs including bathing, feeding, dressing, toileting, getting to doctors appointments, grocery shopping, picking up prescriptions and medication reminders. Cuts to Medicaid would have profound effects on the Across the country, a " In 2023, legislation made thousands more home care workers in Massachusetts eligible to organize and join a union. At the time, Advertisement Workers in Rhode Island are expected to request higher wages, benefits, time off, and training in their negotiations with the state. They will also seek a functional registry to connect consumers with workers, create more stability and flexibility in the system, and give workers the ability to take time off. Destiny Moshier has been caring of her best friend, Holly Allen, for the last three years. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff 'If there was a registry, I could take a full day off to go to the doctor's while someone else cares for Holly,' said Moshier, who currently must complete daily errands for herself and Allen within two hours, the amount of time Allen can be left on her own. Overwhelmingly, home health workers are typically family member caregivers or close friends of their patients. That includes Emanuel Rodriguez, 25, who cares for his brother Jorge, 26, who was born developmentally delayed. His brother, Rodriguez said, can't be left alone for long. 'He'll start cooking, and he'll forget he's cooking and move onto something else and there's a fire. That's happened on one or two occasions already,' he said. His brother was also a victim of a recent Rodriguez went to school for one year to study mechanical engineering, but left to care for his brother. Doing so has earned him just $15 an hour for the last five years. It forced him to take a second job as a paraprofessional for children with special needs in the Coventry Public School District. Advertisement Home health care workers 'care for the most vulnerable... We make sure they are not just left to their own devices,' he said. States, including Rhode Island, could raise taxes to cover federal cuts to Medicaid. Meyers said it's more likely that states will cut back on services. 'In Rhode Island, it's a really constrained environment that's only going to be pushed further to the brink,' said Meyers. Moshier, who made a promise to her friend's elderly mother years ago to care for her daughter, gets frustrated when home care workers are characterized as 'glorified babysitters.' She sees no difference between what she does and those who work in a facility, such as a group home for adults. 'We're caring for people who have nowhere else to go. And people don't realize how many caregivers are struggling just to make ends meet and don't have a safety net,' said Moshier. 'Being in the position I'm in, you have to make it work. You have no choice,' said Moshier. 'You do it out of love for another human being. But comes at a cost.' Alexa Gagosz can be reached at
