Healthcare workers gathered outside the Addabbo Family Health Center, 120 Richard Street on July 28th to picket as cars driving by honked in support of their cause.
They chanted, “What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now! If we don’t get it? Shut it down! If we don’t get it? Shut it down!”
“Our contract expired in September and we’ve been coming in to work in good faith since then,” said Carolyn Fortune, a nurse at the Addabbo Center and delegate for 1199SEIU, the healthcare union. “We’re here to help others but now we’re reaching out to the public for support because we need a new contract.”
A flyer the healthcare workers handed out as they picketed said “Our employer has come to the bargaining table more than once without any meaningful proposals.”
Healthcare workers from the Addabbo Center have another grievance too.
The flyer also said that “during the COVID-19 pandemic, management received millions of dollars from the state and federal government, not to mention local government representatives meant to continue servicing the public.”
“We continued working throughout the pandemic but we have not received any hazard pay yet,” Fortune said. “ We were given a piece of paper thanking us but that doesn’t help us pay the bills. It’s a very frustrating situation for us.”
The healthcare workers feel that the Addabbo Center is taking advantage of them and they unanimously voted in favor of picketing according to Fortune.
The flyer concluded by saying “Please call management [ask for Miriam Vega CEO] at (718) 945-7150 extension 6233 and ask her to give us a fair contract!”
I tried calling but have not yet received a comment on the situation.
“The next step for us is to take a vote on whether to strike or not,” Fortune said. “We don’t want it to come to that but we’ll have to see what happens with the contract negotiations. We’re here and we’ve been here throughout the pandemic to serve the community and we’re also 1199 strong. We’d just like to have some appreciation and respect from management.”
