Unionized nurses at Windham Hospital in Willimantic staged a two-day strike last month, and could strike again. The union representing non-clinical staff members at the facility has authorized its own strike.
Both units, which saw their contracts expire at the end of last year, are calling for hospital owner Hartford HealthCare to improve its offers.
“You never want to strike… but a lot of what we’re telling (the company) has fallen on deaf ears.” says Andrea Riley, president of the Windham Federation of Professional Nurses. “While we are certainly glad with some of the concessions that they made… there’s other things that they still need to do.”
“Hartford HealthCare keeps claiming that they’re doing lots of movement in these negotiations,” says Heather Howlett, president of WCMH United Employees, which voted last month to authorize a strike. “They have not.”
The company disagrees, saying it has moved, offering wage hikes, decreases in employee healthcare costs and the elimination of mandatory overtime.
“The union appears unwilling to take ‘yes’ for an answer,” says Donna Handley, president of Windham Hospital.
Riley says the company must address staffing levels and nurse-to-patient ratio. She says hospitals are still handling a flow of patients that surged when the most restrictive pandemic guidelines ended: “They’re sicker… When you’re unable go and see a doctor for the last few years, everything’s behind.”
The unions, organized under AFT Connecticut, have the support of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D), who met with their leaders Monday afternoon in Rocky Hill.
“Patients deserve nurses who are fairly compensated and treated fairly,” says Blumenthal. “Hospitals should be putting patients before profits.”
