Women and Infants Hospital Caregivers to Picket Demanding Safe Staffing Levels and Time Off

Women and Infants Hospital Caregivers to Picket Demanding Safe Staffing Levels and Time Off

Frontline caregivers at Women and Infants Hospital in Providence are calling on Care New England — the parent company of the hospital to end the staffing crisis and “to provide dedicated healthcare heroes with needed time off to rest and recharge after enduring two years of the pandemic.”

Members of SEIU 1199NE will hold an informational picket on Tuesday, April 26 from 2:00 - 5:00 PM in an effort to bolster staffing.

“Each day, over 1,700 frontline caregivers who are members of SEIU 1199 NE provide quality care to mothers and newborns as well as provide a variety of women’s health services. But for years, caregivers and other frontline staff have worked without the staffing they need which was made far worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff are overworked and exhausted and need time off to recover,” said the SEIU.

“But instead of allowing caregivers to take vacation that they already negotiated for in their contract, management is denying workers the ability to use vacation days during holidays,” said the union “Management does not have the right to unilaterally change the conditions of the legally binding union contract. It is time they honor caregivers’ hard work and sacrifice by providing them with staffing support and stop denying their ability to use their hard-earned time off. “
 

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST