Cabell Huntington Hospital RNs & Technical Workers to Hold Press Conference – Give a Behind the Scenes Update on Negotiations With Hospital Executives
Nurses and technical workers with SEIU District 1199 WV/KY/OH at Cabell Huntington are standing united for a fair contract. These workers state that in negotiations with hospital executives, they have been met with resistance, excuses, and delay. A press event will be held outside on Tuesday, July 7th at 7:30pm on Hal Greer Boulevard at the front on Cabell Huntington Hospital.
What: Press Event With Cabell Huntington Hospital Nurses and Technical Workers
Where: Outside at the Front of Cabell Huntington Hospital at Hal Greer Boulevard
When: 7:30 PM on Tuesday, July 7th
In negotiations, hospital executives have offered no wage increases and have proposed decreased starting wage rates for nurses and technical workers. Additionally, extreme healthcare costs have been imposed on workers at the hospital. Furthermore, nurses say that they continue to work short staffed.
“Workers with Cabell Huntington Hospital were heroes in our community long before this pandemic,” said Joyce Gibson, Regional Director with SEIU District 1199 WV/KY/OH. “They are standing together and speaking out because they know how important it is that they have a voice on the job – safe hospital staffing saves lives,” Gibson continued.
In 2018, Cabell Huntington Hospital acquired St. Mary’s Medical Center in a $165M transaction. In 2020, Cabell Huntington Hospital received $46,209,463 in funding under the Cares Act and St. Mary’s Medical Center was issued $25,221,816. Additionally, amid the COVID19 pandemic, in May 2020, St. Mary’s Medical Center submitted an application to the State of West Virginia Health Care Authority that indicated that they planned to spend over $10M to acquire the Huntington Internal Medicine Group.
At the press conference workers will share firsthand details about what has been happening behind the scenes since they voted to unionize. “The nurses and technical workers and the people of this region deserve much better from hospital executives with the Cabell Huntington Hospital System,” Gibson concluded.
SEIU District 1199 has represented workers with Cabell Huntington Hospital for over 40 years. In the largest victory since West Virginia became a “right-to-work” state, nurses at Cabell Huntington Hospital joined SEIU District 1199 in November 2019. Technical workers with Cabell Huntington Hospital joined SEIU District 1199 in February 2020.