Boston Medical Center workers held a rally Oct. 19 to call for higher pay.
Officials at the 514-bed academic medical center and members of 1199SEIU, who are employed in patient access, laboratory, ambulatory, radiology and social work, among other titles and departments, have been in contract negotiations.
The workers are calling for higher pay to retain and recruit workers, meet the growing needs of the community, and to safeguard care.
"Workers say that low wages are a major contributor to a staffing crisis at the safety-net hospital, endangering workers' livelihoods and worsening the staffing situation," the union said in a news release shared with Becker's. "As registered nurses and resident physicians ratified new contracts at BMC, the rest of the care team feel undervalued by the hospital as they seemingly abandon their values of diversity, equity and inclusion."
The rally was scheduled during the workers' lunch break with a speaker program.
A spokesperson for BMC shared the following statement with Becker's:
"Boston Medical Center greatly values the contribution our professional, technical and administrative colleagues make to our hospital. We are actively in conversation with SEIU and look forward to, once again, negotiating a mutually agreeable contract."