Unionized workers at Columbia Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center voted Wednesday night to authorize a strike against the South Side hospital, setting the stage for a potentially painful confrontation.
A 10-day strike notice sent to Michael Reese management last week by Service Employees International Union Local 73 expires at 6 a.m. Saturday. If a settlement isn’t reached before then, the union has three days to launch a strike or some other type of action.
On Thursday, top negotiators representing SEIU and Michael Reese huddled in meetings all day, but failed to reach an agreement on the key issues before them–job security, severance pay and wage increases.
The tense negotiations come on the heels of a major restructuring announced Monday by Michael Reese’s parent company, for-profit hospital giant Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.
As part of that reorganization, Columbia/HCA plans to spin off or sell its eight Chicago-area hospitals, including Michael Reese, in the next 12 to 18 months.
With the hospital’s future now up in the air, Michael Reese’s 1,800 hospital workers are grappling with anxiety about their jobs and concern about what lies ahead.
Nearly 400 of those staffers–service, maintenance and business office workers–are represented by the union in the talks that began about a month ago. The union’s three-year contract with Michael Reese expired Nov. 8.
This week, according to Local 73 union president and lead negotiator Tom Balanoff, discussions have been very tense, and Michael Reese officials appear to have hardened their negotiating stance. “I really do think they’re trying to provoke us into a strike,” he said.
Absolutely not, responded F. Scott Winslow, Michael Reese’s president. “We desire a new contract with the union,” and have put “several substantial offers on the table,” he insisted.
The hospital has prepared for a potential strike by compiling a detailed plan, which calls for changing some routines, asking non-union employees to work extra shifts and bringing in technical staff from other Columbia/HCA hospitals in the Chicago area, Winslow said.
Services to patients should remain uninterrupted, he said.
One of the key issues at stake in the current talks is what would happen to the union if the hospital is sold. The union wants contract language that would guarantee its survival under any new ownership arrangement. Also, the union is asking for new provisions to govern which employees can be laid off, and under what conditions. Hospital management would not comment on the issue.
Another issue is severance pay for employees who lose jobs. The union has proposed one week of pay and health insurance coverage for each year of service. Winslow said the hospital has existing severance policies. Union president Balanoff says they’re insufficient and insulting, given the hospital’s recent claim that it has made nearly $10 million since September 1996 and a multimillion-dollar severance package recently awarded to former Columbia/HCA chief executive Rick Scott.
A third issue involves raises for workers. The union suggested a 9 percent raise; Michael Reese proposed 1 percent.
Balanoff said the union on Tuesday had filed charges against Michael Reese with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging several unfair labor practices since the union’s contract expired. The union charges that the hospital has failed to provide detailed information about Columbia/HCA’s reorganization and its effect on the hospital’s future; eliminated a union-negotiated grievance procedure and automatic dues check-off, and bargained in bad faith.
