Executives at Dimensions Healthcare System in Maryland have revealed a plan to downsize their staff by as many as 500 full-time jobs. Nurses and other caregivers are outraged by the planned cuts, as well as by unfair labor practices and broken promises by the healthcare system.In three separate letters sent to 1199SEIU, which represents 1400 nurses and other caregivers at Dimensions, management announced elimination of positions in the Patient Access Department at Prince George’s Hospital Center, permanent closure of the Pediatric Medical Services Unit at Prince George’s and elimination of the Weekend Alternative Program for nurses at Laurel Regional Hospital. In conversations with 1199 officers, Dimensions officials said that the overall staff would be reduced from 2400 to 1900, eliminating 500 full-time jobs.After 1199 informed its members and news organizations of the planned cuts, Dimensions backtracked, instead classifying the changes as a “restructuring” and saying that most of those impacted would find new positions within Dimensions.But 1199 members have been in negotiations with Dimensions for more than a year, and the numbers and facts concerning the job cuts must still be clarified. About 100 union members have been notified that they will be impacted by the restructuring. Of these, some will have to apply for a new job with no guarantee of getting one, while others may not be able to move into a new position without additional training or “bumping” someone with less seniority out of a job.Although the 1199 collective bargaining agreement stipulates that the union must be notified of any such changes, the union does not know how many non-union jobs are being cut at Dimensions or how many full-time jobs with benefits are being made into part-time jobs without benefits. In its own documents, Dimensions officials state that they plan to cut costs by eliminating the Weekend Alternative Program. Nurses now in that weekend program are full-time employees and organizers say that any savings will be created by making those jobs into part-time jobs without benefits.“At a time when Dimensions is investing in an expensive campaign to draw patients to their facilities, they are attempting to cut the very staff that has sacrificed to keep the hospitals open and safely staffed,” said John Reid, executive vice president of the Maryland-DC region of 1199SEIU. “Dimensions is talking layoffs of full-time staff, while continuing to employ temporary workers. Meanwhile, they have not settled a fair contract in more than a year and are charged with numerous unfair labor practices.”The plans by Dimensions, fraught with so much uncertainty, have created an atmosphere of intimidation at their facilities that only adds to the tension at the bargaining table. On April 16, nurses and caregivers picketed outside Prince George’s County Hospital Center, Laurel Regional Hospital and the Glen Ridge Medical Center because the last contract offer from Dimensions would bust the union, put safe staffing at further risk and offer only about a one percent wage increase.The planned layoffs and elimination of some health services to the community is occurring as Dimensions plans for a new regional hospital to attract more Prince George’s County residents to the system, which has been plagued by mismanagement. Though 1199SEIU caregivers lobbied for funding of the new hospital and for the survival of Dimensions, current proposals from Dimensions could exclude union jobs in the new, planned facility.Members of 1199 at Dimensions maintain an online presence at www.DimensionsCanDoBetter.org- See more at: http://www.1199seiu.org/dimensions_reveals_plan_to_downsize_500_full_time_jobs_then_backtracks_to_media#sthash.8FDbmtZr.dpuf