Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie was the site of a March 11 protest organized by disgruntled hospital staff who are members of health care union 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers. The stated purpose of the protest ”” or “vigil,” as they promoted the event ”” was to “bring back Vassar.”
The union accused Nuvance Health, the parent organization of Vassar Brothers Medical Center, of being uncaring and creating an environment hostile to workers and unions. The protest included a mobile billboard truck carrying the pointed message “Is Nuvance Health bad for the health of our community?” emblazoned on it.
A total of 348 people attended the four-hour afternoon event, according to its organizers. Elected officials such as New York Assembly members Didi Barrett and Jonathan Jacobson and Poughkeepsie Mayor Robert Rolison were in attendance and had a chance to speak.
But it was Vassar”™s workers who were the main draw, airing out their grievances and detailing what they viewed as the precipitous decline of the hospital since the formation of Nuvance Health from the merger of Health Quest, Vassar”™s previous health system, and Western Connecticut Health Network in 2019.
Staff shortages, overwork and the removal of departments have led to a flight of Vassar staff, the protest organizers said, with many looking to neighboring MidHudson Regional Hospital for employment and opportunities. The longevity of their health benefit contract has also been impacted, with 1199SEIU only negotiating a one-year contract ”” a disappointing compromise for the union”™s negotiating team, who had aimed for a three-year contract.
The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues for the staff. The protesters also pointed to department shutdowns and diminished negotiation effectiveness due to the cancelation of in-person meetings. However, Vassar workers at the protest stated Nuvance purposefully took advantage of the ensuing chaos caused by the pandemic in order to use the situation as pretext for unnecessary budget cuts.
With regard to negotiations, according to 1199SEIU, Nuvance”™s approach to them revealed their position to be markedly anti-union, especially when the organization utilized the services of law firm Littler Mendelson, which the protesters said has contempt for organized labor.
“They advertise themselves as experts in union decertification and anti-union communications,” said Mindy Berman, spokesperson for 1199SEIU. “That says a lot, that they”™ve hired this firm who are known for union busting.”
One Vassar worker, who wished to stay anonymous for fear of retribution from the health system, has worked for more than 20 years at Vassar and is part of the negotiating team. She told the Business Journal that she believed Nuvance”™s hardline stance may well culminate with the loss of benefits for all workers at Vassar, given how much the negotiating team had struggled to get a compromised deal of one year of benefits.
“We are really worried that (Nuvance is) going to go after our benefits,” the anonymous worker said.
Beyond the realm of contracts and reductions in staff and departments, the workers wish for the return of a friendly hospital atmosphere that caters to families and the local community.
“In order for us to be in a better place,” the anonymous worker said, “we need the higher-ups at Vassar to treat everyone who works here as if they care, because (right now) they don”™t,” the anonymous worker added. “We hear the negatives but not the positives that we do. And with things being so hard the way they are and with the prices and everything going up, we just need to feel that management really cares about us, not just for what we can do for them.”
