All About Respect? SEIU Set to Strike Pocono Medical Center for Forced Dues Clause
February 8th 2011 · 0 Comments
Pocono Medical Center union representing 550 employees set to strike
Colin McEvoy | The Express-Times
February 08, 2011
About 550 service and non-professional employees at the Pocono Medical Center are set to go on strike for 24 hours starting Wednesday morning.
The union representing nursing assistants, service and maintenance workers, housekeepers, cafeteria workers and others claim the East Stroudsburg hospital has engaged in a pattern of unfair labor practices.
“We’re fighting for respect and dignity,” said Kim Warner, of Tobyhanna, who sits on the negotiating team of SEIU Healthcare PA. “It’s not an easy decision that we’re going to picket lines tomorrow, but we deserve respect. We are on the front lines taking care of those patients.”
The strike does not affect physicians, nurses or other professional employees, and the hospital has announced they will remain open as usual during the strikes.
“We’re going to be fully operational,” said hospital spokesman Geoffrey Roche. “The people in the community should rest assured we’re going to continue to deliver the high-quality care we’ve been nationally recognized for.”
The 24-hour strike will begin 7 a.m. Wednesday It is the first strike since the union formed at the hospital three years ago, Warner said.
The main point of contention between the two sides is whether SEIU should keep a union shop, which requires employees covered by the union to pay dues.
The hospital wants an “open shop,” which would allow workers to choose whether to join the union or not.
SEIU officials said that would significantly weaken the union, and more than 70 percent of workers signed an open letter favoring keeping the union a “closed shop,” which requires the dues.
Read more @ lehighvalleylive.com.
Tags: Pocono Medical Center, SEIU, Union Security Clause
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