MELROSE, MA— Frustrated by aggressive management tactics in labor negotiations affecting nearly 300 employees, healthcare workers recently staged a picket at the main entrance of Melrose-Wakefield Hospital. 1199SEIU members at the hospital include surgical staff, patient care technicians, imaging staff, lab staff, counselors, and other employees.

Check out photos of the demonstration on this Facebook album.

The picket was in response to efforts by management to extract concessions specifically from lower-paid workers who are newer to the hospital. Hospital executives are proposing a “two-track” wage and benefit system that would compromise the future of jobs and care at the hospital.



Workers are concerned that management is not dealing fairly with employees at a time when Melrose-Wakefield and its parent organization Hallmark Health System, along with its future potential owner Partners Healthcare, are enjoying well-documented financial success.



Recently compiled financial data shows there is no need to reduce the quality of jobs at the hospital or to decrease investments in healthcare service staff. For example:

The assets of the Hallmark hospitals (including Melrose-Wakefield) increased by $20 million in FY2013. In the same fiscal year, the Hallmark hospitals had income of $12.8 million.

The assets of Hallmark hospitals (including Melrose-Wakefield) increased by $6 million in the first quarter of 2014 alone.

According to data from the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA), net assets at the Hallmark hospitals have increased every year for the last three years.

Melrose-Wakefield Hospital is facing a potential takeover by Partners HealthCare – a company with more than $6 billion dollars in net assets.

Patti DiFonzo, a certified nursing assistant who participated in the demonstration, said there are also staffing problems in some cases, affecting both the workers and the people they’re caring for. “I feel that patients are being short-changed,” she said in an interview with the Melrose Free Press.



2013-4-10_MelroseWakefieldPicket_(1)cropped.jpgCheck out press coverage of the Melrose-Wakefield Hospital demonstration at the links below:

Melrose Free Press 04/11/14: Health care workers picket at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital

Becker’s Hospital Review 04/11/14: Melrose-Wakefield Hospital Employees Picket

Melrose Patch 04/11/14: Melrose-Wakefield Hospital Workers Picket Thursday