Lots of
picketers in the pouring rain, lots of solidarity and public support, management
agrees to resume negotiations, and the union hands out turkey baskets.
 |
| L&M's CEO Bruce Cummings, pay package $702,147, blames everyone but himself for these troubles at the hospital |
By
Will Collette
More
than 300 registered nurses and LPNs signed in to walk the picket line at
Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in some pretty grim weather. Others simply
showed up, grabbed a sign and walked and changed in the rain.
Supporters,
allied groups, family, former patients, community leaders and students joined
in, as did other AFT union members from Danbury Hospital and Connecticut
Technical High Schools.
A delegation from the UNAP members at Westerly Hospital
came over to support their sisters and brothers at L&M, which of course now
owns Westerly Hospital, too. A delegation of AFSCME members from the New London Public Works Department also joined in.
The
union plans to end their strike over L&M’s unfair labor practices (click here for details) on Saturday at 11 PM, but L&M management has said it will
“lock out” the union workers and operate with strike-breakers (“scabs”).
The
union has formally asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to intervene
and seek an injunction against L&M to prevent them from locking out the
workers. Since the NLRB has already accepted the union charges against hospital
management, there’s a pretty good chance the NLRB will agree to the union
request.
L&M
management has agreed to resume contract negotiations on Tuesday and allow the
federal mediator back into the talks. The union says it is ready to talk sooner
than Tuesday to try to reach a settlement as soon as possible, but apparently
the hospital brass doesn’t.
The
union says it will continue picketing through Thanksgiving and are hoping Sen.
Richard Blumenthal and Congressman Joe Courtney will be joining them on the
line. They are also still planning a big rally at the hospital at noontime on
Friday.
The
union also distributed turkey baskets to striking members.
I
can tell you from direct personal experience that no union wants to strike, but
if you have been following the issues at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital,
L&M CEO Bruce Cummings left the union with no choice. The workers are going
to want to go back to work, have Cummings to bargain in good faith and get a
fair contract that’s good for them and their families and good for L&M.
And
giving how closely tied Westerly Hospital is to this situation, we also have a
lot riding on the line.