Dunkley (right): “… would be affordable for me”
POUGHKEEPSIE – Healthcare workers at MidHudson Regional Hospital
of Westchester Medical Center demonstrated outside the main entrance to
the Town of Poughkeepsie hospital Wednesday calling for a “fair
collective bargaining agreement” with their employer.
Westchester Medical Center last spring took over the former Saint Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, which was in dire financial straits.
The workers in Poughkeepsie voted to join 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East a year-and-a-half ago, but no contract has been reached.
Among those on the informational picket was Jeanella Dunkley, a behavioral health tech, who has worked at the hospital for some 30 years.
“I am one of the negotiators and we are in the process of negotiating but they are adamant about not taking on the benefits and pension plan that 1199 has, which would be affordable for me,” Dunkley said, noting Vassar hospital has the same benefit plan.
In a statement, the hospital said that Mid-Hudson Valley Staffco, which employs the 1199 bargaining unit members, has proposed wage increases, including “significantly raising minimum hiring rates, to bring the salaries of the staff at MidHudson Regional Hospital toward market level.”
The hospital also said Staffco is taking steps to “enhance fringe benefits” for its employees. “Retirement benefits already have been greatly improved and, effective January 1, 2016, significant changes will be made to health benefits to make them much more family friendly – reducing premiums for employees covering spouses and children – while also continuing to provide free health care at MidHudson Regional Hospital, expanding free care at the WMC Valhalla campus, reducing the out-of-pocket cost for maternity care, and providing out-of-network coverage.”
The hospital officials said they are “confident we can reach an agreement which both improves employees’ compensation and insures the financial viability of MidHudson Regional in this competitive health care market, and will continue to make every effort to make that happen.”
