Workers in various departments of Steward Health Care's St. Anne’s Hospital have organized and joined the United Healthcare Workers East union, 1199-SEIU.
FALL RIVER — Workers in various departments of Steward Health Care's St. Anne’s Hospital have organized and joined the United Healthcare Workers East union, 1199-SEIU.
A vote on Thursday unionized some 800 workers such as certified nursing assistants, dietary employees, pharmacy technicians, laboratory technicians, environmental services and general maintenance workers, among others at St. Anne's. It does not include registered nurses.
The new union members will join others who work for Steward-run hospitals in Massachusetts, including workers at Morton Hospital in Taunton and Good Samaritan in Brockton, along with Carney in Dorchester, Norwood Hospital, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, and several others.
“The workers wanted to have a voice,” Tim Foley, executive vice president of 1199-SEIU, told The Herald News on Thursday.
He said the union will help them support quality health care at St. Anne’s and enable them to have a “stronger voice.”
Last January, the union negotiated an agreement with Steward Health Care ensuring that all of its roughly 5,000 members working for the health care system make a minimum of $15 an hour as of Oct. 31, 2019, according to a SEIU press release.
Union members of St. Anne’s will become part of system-wide bargaining set for January.
“Our mission is to ensure high quality affordable care for patients and quality jobs for employees,” Foley said in a press release. “Today’s vote is a win not only for employees, patients and the hospital, but also for Fall River. The hospital is integral to Fall River’s economy, and this win creates a pathway to economic prosperity for workers and their families.”
A call placed to St. Anne’s Hospital seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Kerri Ingham, a radiation therapist at St. Anne’s, called the vote a “victory,” in a press release. She said it was an “important step” that will ensure they have a “strong voice on the job and access to new training and education opportunities – all of which will ultimately enhance patient care.”
Registered nurses at Southcoast Health’s St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford voted in November to form a union and join the Massachusetts Nurses Association, according to the association. Registered nurses at Southcoast Health’s Tobey Hospital in Wareham are also unionized.
Registered nurses at Charlton Memorial Hospital, like St. Anne’s, have not organized to form a union, according to Foley.
Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com