Members of the union 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers East picketed at Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow as part of a campaign for improved pay and benefits. Phelps was one of two Northwell facilities targeted May 1 by union members, who also demonstrated at Northwell’s STARS Rehabilitation Bay Sore on Long Island.
The union alleges that since caregivers at Phelps voted in June 2022 for representation by 1199SEIU, Northwell’s management has not provided what the union considers to be a fair contract including greater input on issues relating to patient care and staffing.
“We have served this community, through Covid and beyond, putting our lives and our family’s lives on the line to provide quality care to our patients. Management hailed us as ‘heroes.’ Now, these feel like empty words,” said Anne Green, an employee at Phelps. “I don’t want to be a burden to my family when I retire. I’ve dedicated my life to caring for patients and deserve a good pension just like my 1199SEIU colleagues at other Northwell hospitals who have strong pensions.”
Another employee, Pat Conanno, a nurse at Phelps, said, “We’re a first-rate hospital system, but Phelps nurses aren’t being treated like the first-rate caregivers we are. We do this work because we love taking care of patients, but management refuses our pleas for greater input on patient care and staffing concerns.”
The union says that 1199SEIU members at other Northwell facilities already have strong contracts that include no-cost family health insurance, guaranteed pensions, education funds, and competitive wages and that employees at Phelps and the Long Island facility should have the same.
