Tag Archive | "SEIU"

Spectrum Strike: Going Strong, One Year On

Posted on 24 April 2011. Tags: , , , , ,

(Hartford) On April 15th, 2010, about 400 workers at 4 Ct nursing homes began their strike against Spectrum Healthcare for unfair labor practices….1 year later, their struggle continues.

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Santa is Mad!

Posted on 13 December 2010. Tags: , , , ,

The fight continues for Spectrum employees…. Come out and support your fellow workers! When we stand together, everyone wins! (except the bosses…but hey, scrooge them!)

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21 Arrested During Rally for Spectrum Workers

Posted on 02 June 2010. Tags: , , ,

21 Arrested as Community Leaders Block Scabs to Support Strike

By Steve Thornton

(June 1) On the 48th day on strike at a Connecticut nursing home, twenty one community leaders, labor activists, clergy members and elected officials were arrested while blocking scab workers from entering and leaving the Park Place Health Center in Hartford.

“We are here today as witnesses for justice,” reads a statement released by the activists, who also cited Martin Luther King Jr.’s statement that civil disobedience “seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”

The human blockade is one of many solidarity actions that have been organized by area supporters who have also provided material and moral aid to the strikers on a regular basis.

The strike involves a total of four nursing homes in Hartford, Winsted, Derby and Ansonia which are organized by District 1199, New England Health Care Employees Union, SEIU.  The homes are owned by Spectrum Care, a local corporation run by Brian and Howard Dickstein and Sean Murphy.


Boss Commits Unfair Labor Practices
The labor action of almost 400 workers was triggered on April 15th, more than one year after their contracts expired. Over the last 12 months, the employer fired, suspended and intimidated dozens of workers who no longer had full union protections.  District 1199 has charged the company with massive unfair labor practices and has filed charges of illegal activity by Spectrum at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

“We have now successfully negotiated contracts with operators of 36 other nursing homes covering 4,000 long-term care workers in Connecticut – without any strikes or other job actions,” said District 1199 Vice President Almena Thompson.  “The union is the same, the contract terms very similar – the only difference is the company in question, Spectrum.”

“And Spectrum is the only company who has engaged in these massive Unfair Labor Practices – that’s why there are strikes at Spectrum’s homes, but were no strikes at any other nursing home.”


Dangerous Work, Poor Safety Record
Spectrum also has an abysmal health and safety record. On March 10, 2010 the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) sent letters to “15,000 workplaces [nationally] with the highest numbers of injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work, restricted work activities or job transfers.” All four of the Spectrum nursing homes on the strike deadline, plus a fifth home where the contract does not expire until 2011, received the OSHA notification. According to OSHA, “Workplaces receiving notifications had [illness and injury] rates more than twice the national average among all U.S. workplaces.”

Vice President Thompson said, “Among nursing home chains, Spectrum has one of the worst health and safety records in Connecticut, yet they want to slash pay for workers injured on the job to $10/hour if the nature of the injuries require lighter-duty work.”



Strikers’ Action Program
One hundred Hartford 1199 members (dietary, housekeeping and laundry workers, nurses and nurse aides) have maintained an active program of agitation both on and off the picket line:

– After intense worker lobbying, the Hartford City Council voted on May 24th to unanimously support the strikers, demanding that the Spectrum owners settle a fair contract, back off of their position that the strikers would be permanently replaced, and demanded that the company pay for police picket line overtime.

– The strikers have found creative ways to discourage outside workers from applying for jobs at the Park Place.  Most frequently, the potential scabs are approached before they cross the picket line and are talked out of stealing the strikers’ jobs.  But at least one striker placed one young man in a lawn chair and sat on him until he agreed to leave.  Another walked in front of a job seeker and “just acted crazy” witnesses said.  The applicant was so disturbed by the sight she turned around and left.

– Strikers have extended support to other labor causes as well.  More than 60 joined the Workers’ Memorial Day event at the State Capitol on April 28th.  Others joined Red Cross workers in nearby Farmington who walked in to their boss to deliver a ten-day strike notice.

– Each striking home has walked the others’ picket lines and sat in during contract  negotiations, which have continued despite the employer’s “surface” bargaining.




Support the striking Spectrum workers!

Visit www.seiu1199ne.org or call 860-549-1199
More photos: http://www.homestead.com/homefront

photos courtesy of Steve Thornton

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UPDATED: Strike Begins in Hartford w/video

Posted on 15 April 2010. Tags: , , ,

For Immediate Release:

Video from Thursday:  Hartford SEIU1199 Strike 4/15/10

Thursday, April 15 at 6:00 am, District 1199 workers at four nursing homes began their strike for a fair contract against the Spectrum Healthcare corporation.

In Hartford, the workers at Park Place nursing home will be on the picket line (5 Greenwood Street, off Park Street*).
I hope you will join us!

Here are some facts:

**Workers at 32 other 1199 nursing homes have successfully settled their contracts.  In contrast, Spectrum has avoided giving raises to the Park Place workers for more than 2 1/2 years.

**While union workers provide excellent care to their patients (Spectrum has a five-star rating!), the nursing home chain is one the the most dangerous places to work in the nation. Injuries at Spectrum are twice as frequent as the national average.

**At the same time, Spectrum is trying to cut light-duty pay for injured workers!

The Spectrum workers need your support. Please join us on the line Thursday, this weekend, and for as long as it takes!

Stay in touch with the strike.  Go to our website:

http://www.seiu1199ne.org

*Here are directions to Park Place:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=cn5&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=0,0,17366308052694280939&fb=1&hq=park+place+nursing+home&hnear=hartford&gl=us&daddr=5+Greenwood+Street,+Hartford,+CT+06106-2110&geocode=15010557678215085335,41.755083,-72.709927&ei=denFS8TdG8K78ga44umXDw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=directions-to&resnum=1&ved=0CAsQngIwAA

photo credit: Steve Thornton

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Union Seeks Contract

Posted on 10 December 2008. Tags: , , , ,


West Hartford- On a cold December 8th morning, bus drivers for the West Hartford public schools held a “freezin’ for a reason” picket outside town hall on South Main Street.

Read the full story

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Comments

  • steve thornton: [April 16]– Marking one full year in struggle, nurses, nursing assistants and support staff at...
  • dave rozza: Maybe I should have added Libya to the mix… :/ http://english.aljazeera.ne...
  • Meghan Quinn: Mubarak is out! Celebrate Saturday 2/12 at 1 PM behind the State Capitol!
  • kevin: so with that kind of political support, any hope of ending this thing equitably any time soon?
  • steve thornton: (January 15) Former Hartford Mayor Carrie Saxon Perry told Spectrum workers and their supporters that...

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