Employees at Rhode Island Hospital, which is part of Providence, R.I.-based nonprofit health system Lifespan, will vote Wednesday whether to authorize their union, Teamsters Local 251, to issue a 10-day strike notice, according to a WPRI report.
Rhode Island Hospital has about 2,300 employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which last year launched a campaign "to negotiate improvements on union issues such as job security, wages and benefits," according to the report. Additionally, workers have a desire to improve proposals that were suggested in relation to concerns about patient care, the report reads.
On its website, Teamsters Local 251 said putting pressure on hospital management has led to some progress for employees. However, the union still believes there is work to be done to get a fair contract, and that is why the strike notice authorization vote was scheduled.
If the employees that are a part of the Bargaining Committee and Contract Action Team vote to issue the strike notice, union members from the hospital would have to do a second vote for the strike to occur, according to website.
In a prepared statement last month, Rhode Island Hospital said it has been in negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters . "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," the hospital said.
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