In the absence of a new contract, Butler Hospital’s unionized workers are gearing up for a possible strike, union officials announced Friday morning.
About 90% of the members of SEIU 1199NE, the union representing about 800 positions at the Providence psychiatric hospital, voted to OK the strike.
Because of vacancies in union roles, there are 704 union members now working at Butler. Of those members, 643 voted, with only six voting against the strike. The vote began on Monday and ended Thursday evening.
A date has not been set for a strike as of Friday. Union members include professional and clerical staff, registered nurses, mental health workers, and housekeeping and dietary staff. All four SEIU 1119 contracts with Butler expired on March 31.
“We are dealing with record numbers of assaults in the hospital and too many of us are afraid just to go to work,” Dan Camp, who works in behavioral health call intake at Butler, said in a statement Friday. “For the last month we have put forward specific proposals to improve workplace safety and the quality and consistency of care for our patients but management refuses to take our concerns seriously.”
The vote comes four days after hundreds of Butler workers paraded up and down Blackstone Boulevard to protest wages and working conditions at the hospital, where SEIU 1199NE says the rate of assaults on workers increased 41% from 2022 through 2024.
“Low wages are the key reason staffing is so short and turnover is so high,” Camp continued. “We have Butler staff who are struggling to feed their family and even living out of their cars —- when people are worried about their basic needs it reduces the quality of the care and support we can provide.”
There were 108 open union positions at the hospital as of Friday. In the most recent contract, which expired March 31, mental health workers started at $18.27 an hour. Hourly wages for housekeeping and dietary staff started at $16.08, clerical workers started at $19.76, and professional staff and registered nurses started at $32.50 an hour.
Raina C. Smith, a spokesperson for Butler’s parent company Care New England, responded to the news via email Friday afternoon.
“It is very disappointing that 1199SEIU asks its members to vote on a potential strike,” Smith wrote. “This is unnecessary and distracting, given that we are currently in active negotiations with a session planned for next week.”
“Butler Hospital’s team is focused on reaching an agreement at the table, and we hope the union can focus its attention on the same goal,” Smith continued.
The hospital and the union will next meet at the bargaining table on Wednesday, April 29.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
