Seeking Resurrection

Workers in the Windy City's second-largest hospital system are determined to have a collective voice despite harassment and intimidation from management.

By Jon Melegrito

CHICAGO

In March, more than 100 leaders from around the Resurrection Health Care (RHC) system came together for their first organizing "summit." For months, workplace leaders had been building a network across eight hospitals, and it was time to formally launch their campaign to form a union with Council 31. On this historic day, employees discussed problems, met AFSCME members and set the course for their campaign. They named their organization Healthcare Employees Acting at Resurrection Together (HEART), and committed to build an employee organization that will advocate for patients and employees by forming the union and educating political, community and religious leaders about their goals. Among the participants was Jaime Javier, a telemetry technician at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital. To Javier, the goal was not only to "exercise our right to form a union," but also to "have a strong voice in patient care and working conditions."

CORPORATE REACTIONS. When workers began their organizing drive, management reacted in traditional anti-union fashion: embarking on a campaign of harassment, intimidation and surveillance. Maria Tapia, a 13-year cook, says her supervisors are "always watching me whenever I talk about the union with my co-workers." Joann Heilman, a registered nurse (RN) for more than 20 years, was written up for having a "bad attitude" just weeks after getting an exemplary evaluation. The write-up came after she publicly advocated establishing a union to gain a stronger voice in the hospital.

Lower-wage workers — many of whom are immigrants — have been told they will be fired or lose benefits if they support the effort; others have been pressured to sign petitions stating they oppose forming the union.

"I've been shocked by the kinds of tactics management has used to prevent us from organizing," adds RN Bill Lambert. "A supervisor grabbed a union flyer out of a nurse's hand and said, 'Do you mind if I steal this from you?' When it comes to openly speaking up for change, there is a tremendous amount of fear within the hospital."

Faced with opposition of that magnitude, HEART activists engaged in a multi-pronged campaign:

• The NLRB. In July, Council 31 filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that RHC is engaging in an illegal anti-union campaign. Resurrection employees — joined by Congresspersons Luis Gutierrez and Jan Schakowsky — held a news conference to challenge management's campaign of harassment and suppression of free speech.
• Concerned Clergy. Employees began visiting their priests to educate them about the problems they face and management's reaction to their organizing campaign. Josefa Gasiorek felt much better after her visit with Rev. Dominic Grassi. She had told the pastor of St. Josephat Catholic Church that conditions at Resurrection Medical Center are getting worse. In her four years as a food service worker at the hospital, raises have been minimal while health premiums have substantially increased.

  "We are overworked and underpaid," Gasiorek said. "And when I talk with my co-workers about forming a union, they all agree, but they're scared of getting fired."

  Reverend Dominic was appalled by what he heard. "Your cause is just and right," he said, as he signed a letter addressed to the board of directors of Resurrection Health Care. The appeal, signed by 37 other priests working in the Archdiocese of Chicago, urged management to meet with Council 31 in order to develop a free and fair organizing environment. The letter stated: "We see great value in a formal dialogue between AFSCME Council 31, union supporters and management. … to discuss establishing a fair process for employees to freely decide about forming a collective voice."

  Sponsored by two Catholic orders — the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth and the Sisters of the Resurrection — RHC is the largest Catholic health care provider in Chicago, with eight hospitals and 14,000 employees. Its mission is based on Church values and social teaching, which supports a ministry to the poor and affirms the dignity of workers. A pastoral letter, "Economic Justice for All," issued in 1986 by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, states that "All church institutions must [also] fully recognize the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively with the institution through whatever association or organization they freely choose."

  With that declaration in mind, Reverend Dominic told Gasiorek, "That's why we should be in the forefront, especially on health care issues." And if she and her co-workers were fired for organizing, "I will personally bring other priests to talk to the sisters and get your jobs back."

• Local Organizations. HEART members have also reached out to community groups to advocate for patients. Six neighborhood associations, for instance, have forged a coalition with HEART to question the impact of RHC's plan to merge St. Mary of Nazareth and St. Elizabeth hospitals. Council 31 and its coalition partners are calling for a study to assess how the closure will affect community services and employment.

   

  Community leaders and workers in both hospitals — located in an area that has historically been home to working poor and immigrant residents — are worried that the consolidation will shortchange low-income and uninsured patients. "The neighborhood is in danger of losing a financially sound, safety-net hospital with an outstanding record of providing charitable care and vital services in the community," explains Idida Perez of West Town Leadership United. Noting that both hospitals employ more than 2,000 people, Perez and leaders from five other community organizations are calling for a guarantee against job loss as a result of the merger.

• Sympathetic Legislators. HEART recently sponsored a legislative forum that focused on health care issues. The forum is part of a major effort to lobby for hospital reform to protect quality care and raise standards throughout the Illinois hospital industry. At the event, more than 200 participants and seven Illinois lawmakers heard stories of overwhelming workloads, punitive sick-leave policies and a growing "assembly line" atmosphere in Chicago hospitals. "Our profession is near a crisis situation, and we need your help," Margaret Collins, an RN from Resurrection Medical Center, told the legislative panel.

   

  Sen. Don Harmon (D), who had sponsored a bill to provide rest breaks and nurse input into staffing plans last year, vowed to continue the legislative battle in Springfield. Last summer, dozens of hospital workers lobbied state legislators with personal visits, letters and phone calls. Their demands? limit mandatory overtime for nurses; give employees "critical" break and lunch periods; pay employees who are required to work through breaks and lunches; and fund nurse scholarships.

 

"You brought home an important message," Harmon wrote in a thank-you letter. "If we want to improve the quality of care in Illinois hospitals, we need to improve working conditions." All of the legislators who attended the forum pledged to support and work to pass legislation that will meet HEART's goals.

WORK TO DO. To further educate the community about issues pertaining to the RHC, Council 31 has produced two white papers: "Closing the Door on the Poor? The Case for Saving St. Elizabeth Hospital"; and "The Case for Dialogue: In search of a fair and civil process for employees to decide about forming a union at Resurrection Health Care."

Despite its reputation as a union town, only 10 percent of Chicago's health care workers are organized. In fact, an anti-union climate prevails in its hospitals. For years, workers say, the stern warning has been: Better not talk union, or you'll be out the door.

HEART members are eagerly awaiting a response from the sponsoring religious orders of Resurrection Health Care. They believe that the mission of the institution will prevail over corporate attitudes and that RHC management will come to the table to discuss a fair organizing process.

Shirley Brown, a veteran RHC housekeeper, is not daunted. "We should be able to talk about forming a union and decide whether we want it or not," she points out. "We need to stick together to make changes. Imagine what we will accomplish in the future!"