The Women and Babies union holds an informative picket about ‘unfair labor practices’

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – Caregivers at Women and Infants are protesting this morning in hopes of raising awareness about “illegal labor practices” at the hospital.

The union said nearly 1,500 workers voted yes to the picket today in October, making up “99.9% of workers who participated” in the vote.

The alleged unfair labor practices include “intimidating, threatening, and in the most extreme cases – committing unauthorized physical acts against union members and staff in retaliation for their testimony against the hospital in a federal unfair labor practice lawsuit before an administrative law judge of the National Labor Relations Board.”

The union has alleged that during previous contract negotiations, hospital management “has put forward proposals that will erode labor standards, trample on trade union rights and fail to solve the workforce crisis.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Care New England said:

“Women & Infants Hospital leadership has been negotiating in good faith with 1199 SEIU since October. We are extremely disappointed that the union has chosen to conduct an informational picket based on false claims rather than spend its time at the bargaining table. The Union has reported more than 30 unfair labor practices in the past ten years. The hospital proactively resolved three of the issues with the union, and for the remaining cases, the National Labor Relations Board did not find that WIH engaged in any illegal or unlawful activity against the union. We remain committed to productive negotiations with SEIU 1199.”

The picket starts at 6:00 am. The speakers will speak at 12 noon.