Summa Strikes Out

Akron, Ohio

AFSCME Local 684 (Council 8) ended an 84-day strike of Akron City Hospital on Jan. 29 when hospital management agreed to come back to the bargaining table, with any unresolved issues going to binding arbitration after 60 days.

"Our employer came [to the table] with a better attitude this morning," said Local 684 Pres. Larry Powell of the results of the agreement. "So far, it looks like we're going to be successful."

This comes in the wake of a Jan. 20 agreement that fell apart after the hospital announced impending layoffs for 60 workers.

The workers, most of them African-American women, walked off the job on Nov. 7. This came after year-long negotiations with Summa Health Systems, which owns the hospital, broke down over issues of job security and privatization.

Among other things, the hospital had demanded the unlimited right to outsource union jobs and to replace current staff with part-time workers from outside the bargaining unit. The average wage in the 480-member unit is between $8.50 and $9.50 an hour.

Still under discussion at press time was the 60-worker layoff. That issue was also scheduled to go to binding arbitration if unresolved within 10 days.

Visible and vocal support for the local's efforts came from religious leaders, the NAACP, labor unions and the city council. The current agreement came just days after a city council member threatened to cancel a city contract with the hospital if Summa's behavior was "unreasonable."