2008 Delegate Assembly Report

Important Year Ahead

This June’s Delegate Assemblies in Hartford and Providence had impressive turnouts. In total, more than 300 Delegates came together to get ready for contract negotiations throughout the District that begin this Fall; dozens of new Delegates were sworn in at the meetings.

For the State Team, contract negotiations kick off in September, so we can have an agreement – or arbitration award – ready for the legislature to approve well before the end of the session next June. “More than 3,000 state members have completed Contract Surveys and over 100 were elected to the Negotiating Committee,” said Vice President and State Team Leader Paul Fortier.

All but a handful of our nursing home and hospital contracts either expire or have reopeners early in 2009. Vice President Almena Thompson said, “Our challenge in this next round of negotiations is to win ‘A’ contracts for more facilities while maintaining our standards.” Contract surveys are out in hospital and nursing home chapters across the state; on September 10th, Delegates and leaders will meet to assess survey results and develop statewide proposals.

Vice President Linda Vannoni focused on the work of 1199 members at private provider agencies for services to adults and children with mental health, behavioral and developmental disabilities. “We’ve made tremendous progress over the last year in building a stronger and broader Delegate structure in the chapters. And we’re going to continue to stress political participation at both the local and the state level - that’s the key to securing the funding we need for the services we deliver.”

In Rhode Island, one major challenge comes in the form of a proposed merger between now-separate Lifespan and Care New England hospital systems. This potential merger would leave control of 60-80% of hospital care in the hands of a single company, directly affect members at Women & Infants and Butler Hospitals, and have an impact on everyone in the state. We will fight to block the merger as the wrong medicine for workers and patients. Two-thirds of our RI membership work at Women & Infants or Butler Hospitals, so this fight concerns all of us as health care workers and consumers.