Hospital workers and community activists are scheduled to picket Jan. 29 at Rhode Island Hospital, which is part of Providence, R.I.-based nonprofit health system Lifespan, according to a GoLocalProv report.
The "informational picket" is part of a labor campaign for "Good Jobs & Quality Care at Lifespan," and community members have joined Teamsters Local 251 "to make proposals to protect and improve quality patient care," according to the report. Rhode Island Hospital has about 2,300 employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
"The members sent us to the bargaining table…And we have spoken up on …(these) issues: job security, fair Epic implementation, fair wages and benefits, better retirement, respect and dignity, adequate staffing and equipment and quality care," Teamsters Local 251 said on its website. "There is a lot of negotiating to be done and we look forward to reaching an agreement on a fair contract."
GoLocalProv reported that according to RI Jobs with Justice, Lifespan has rejected the union's proposals to require the hospital to "maintain sufficient staff and adequate supplies."
In a prepared statement, Rhode Island Hospital said it has been in negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters "to reach an agreement that offers a fair wage and benefit package, allows us together to continue providing the best care for our patients and maintain a financially viable hospital."
According to the hospital, the current contract expired Dec. 31, 2014, and the hospital agreed to extend it until Jan. 30, 2015 "with the goal of reaching a mutually agreed-upon contract."
"We value our IBT-represented employees, and we offer them stable employment with highly competitive salaries and benefits packages that are better than comparable jobs in other sectors of the economy. In fact, the final 16 months of the current IBT contract provided an increase to wages of 5 percent for IBT-represented employees," the hospital said.
"The latest IBT proposal would increase wages, healthcare, and retirement contributions, as well as other economic requests to over $20 million — a 15.5 percent increase in the first year alone. This is on top of the over $63,000 in salary, healthcare coverage and other benefits that an average Rhode Island Hospital employee represented by IBT earns. This does not make economic sense for the hospital or its patients, as our state continues to struggle economically," the hospital added. "Since we are still currently in negotiations, it would be premature to comment further, except to say we are offering a fair contract that continues to provide wage increases, retirement, healthcare and other benefits. We remain committed to a contract that is fair to all our valued employees as well as to the patients who depend on them."
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