Lynn, MA Hospital Workers Wage Fight for First Contract
After more than a year of negotiations without a contract, hundreds of workers at Union Hospital and citizens from across the region rallied yesterday asking management at Union Hospital/Partners Healthcare to keep good jobs and quality care on the North Shore of Massachusetts. North Shore Medical Center is operated by Partners HealthCare System, Inc, the largest healthcare system in Massachusetts with more than $5.2 billion in reserves.
“We just want to be paid fairly. I live in Lynn and spend my paycheck in Lynn, but we’re paid very poorly at the hospital,” said Krystina Tejada, a cancer survivor and 1199SEIU member who works in emergency reception at Union Hospital, “Like many of my co-workers, I qualify for MassHealth because of my income, and I can’t afford the hospital health plan for my family. We simply want to provide quality patient care and be able to afford the services at our own hospital.”
Nearly 450 hospital workers voted to join 1199SEIU last year as part of a massive and historic wave of successful hospital labor organizing across Greater Boston. That group of workers is negotiating their first-ever contract and has cited low wages and a lack of wage equity within the hospital as major concerns. An additional contract with 1199SEIU members covering 370 Registered Nurses and pro-tech employees expired on June 2 of this year and is currently being renegotiated. Members say that improving jobs at the hospital, one of the area’s largest employers, would not only be beneficial for struggling healthcare workers and their families, but also for local businesses and the difficult Lynn area economy.
"We united together so we can work together to improve the quality of care we provide our patients and improve the lives of our families," said Kwesi Jones, an Operating Room Assistant at Union Hospital. "I love my daughter and I want to build a good life for her right here in Lynn. Having a good quality job makes a difference in our family – and we need to remain strong and united to make sure we win our first contract."
1199SEIU members at Union Hospital have been building momentum for their cause. A growing number of local community groups have endorsed their campaign, including Mass Senior Action, Neighbor to Neighbor, the Lynn Health Task Force, The Highlands Coalition, the North Shore Labor Council, and others who have pledged to support the workers moving forward.
Leslie Greenberg, a founder of the Lynn Health Task Force and a community health care advocate, said wage data provided by Union Hospital shows that 35 percent of its service employees earn less a living wage. “Some workers earn less than $10 per hour while working at Union,” Greenberg said, “and they're run by the state’s richest hospital network. It's wrong.”