CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Workers at Howard Brown Health clinics in Chicago began their three-day strike Tuesday, as they asserted that management has violated labor laws.
The non-nursing clinic workers — more than 400 of them — held protests in several locations, including one at 63rd Street and Lowe Avenue in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.
Shakia Flowers is a Behavioral Health professional here, or rather, she was. Flowers was among those on the layoff list.
“I lost access to my email and the patient portals on Friday,” she said. “They told us we wouldn’t be laid off until Jan. 3, but we lost access on Friday. I’m already laid off, and one of my coworkers was on the phone with a patient when they lost access, meaning they could not contact the patient to let the patient know what happened.”
Flowers added that the way Howard Brown Health chose to handle its layoff was “reckless.”
“It was irresponsible, and it’s unethical,” she said.
Flowers is a parent of two high school students and said things are going to get tough.
She said she believes the layoffs — 61 altogether — have everything to do with the union, which non-nursing workers formally joined in August 2022.
In a statement, Howard Brown Health said: “We support our employees in the union and their right to express their opinion. We are continuing services.”
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