Nearly 800 nurses and
technicians rebuffed when attempting to return to work after calling end to a
four-day strike over the corporation's unfair labor practices and their impact
on health services
From Matt O’Connor
 |
| Last Friday's union rally in front of L&M |
Editor's note: L&M now owns Westerly Hospital, so the outcome of this dispute offers a pretty good preview of what might happen at Westerly Hospital when their next contract expires.
New London – Saturday night, the administration of Lawrence & Memorial (L&M)
Hospital locked out its registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses
(LPNs), healthcare technicians and technologists immediately following the end
of a legally protected job action. Lawrence & Memorial Corporation (LMC)
representatives refused to allow the caregivers to complete an unconditional
return to their patients offered before they began the first strike in the
hospital’s 101-year history. The local unions representing the nurses and techs
on Tuesday filed a complaint seeking injunctive relief with the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) in the event LMC attempted their threatened lockout.
"We want a resolution, not a lockout," said L&M Hospital registered nurse and AFT Local 5049 President Lisa D'Abrosca. "The corporation is reacting in a reckless and irresponsible way to our lawful efforts to hold them accountable. Even our state's political leaders urged them not to lock us out from treating our patients," she said. Approximately 540 RNs at the hospital are represented by Local 5049.
D'Abrosca's comments refer to
statements of support made Friday by Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy and
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal to the striking nurses and caregivers.
Blumenthal yesterday joined Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Representative Joe
Courtney in a statement saying, "imposing a lockout carries grave
risk," and urged "no further escalation of the dispute."
"The people of this
community deserve the truth from the hospital's administration," said
L&M Hospital sleep lab technician and AFT Local 5051 President Stephanie
Johnson. "Instead, the corporation is trying to fool our community into
thinking they locked us out over wages and benefits," she said. Local 5051
represents the hospital's approximately 250 LPNs and technicians, including
mammography, CAT Scan, and nuclear medicine technologists.
Johnson's comments refer to a
misleading full-page ad the corporation placed today in The Day that contains
inaccurate and incorrect salary figures for the hospital's nurse and techs. The
ad also creates the false impression that the caregivers took the unprecedented
action of striking over economic issues rather than unfair labor practices and
their impact on patient care. The nurses and techs are concerned that the
corporation is attempting to distort the record and confuse the community in order
to deflect mounting criticism of their conduct.
"We want to return to
work to take care of our patients and to provide the quality care they
deserve," said Christina Chapman, a registered nurse in the acute
rehabilitation unit with 28 years of experience at L&M Hospital. "The
corporation would rather be understaffed with less competent 'scabs' who don't
know our patients, our hospital or our community," said Chapman, a member
of Local 5049.
Chapman’s comments refer to
the public admission by its spokesman that the hospital is relying on
approximately 200 temporary replacement workers to provide critical patient
care services during their lockout. These "scabs" -- outside workers
brought in by management to displace permanent employees in a labor dispute --
are incapable of handling the workload of the hospital’s nearly 800 skilled,
professional caregivers.
"The folks running this
hospital need to respect, not ignore, community concerns and patient
needs," said Melodie Peters, an LPN who worked at L&M Hospital and
president of AFT Connecticut. "It's time for the corporation's board of
directors to respond to the people and the elected and community leaders of
this region who are saying, 'We are 'L+M.' They need to hold the hospital's
administration accountable," said Peters, who is also a former state
senator from the region.
Peters' comments refer to an
outpouring of support for the caregivers over the past week, including rallies
every day beginning Thursday that generated huge crowds in front of the
hospital. Hundreds turned out last night to stand with the nurses and techs
scheduled for the night shift to bear witness as they were subjected to the
corporation’s lockout.
