ROCHESTER, N.Y. — After nearly a month of contract talks, union hospital and campus workers with the University of Rochester Medical Center held a campaign kickoff event Saturday.
Two unions — 1199 SEIU and SEIU Local 200 United — representing a total of nearly 2,000 workers at Strong Memorial Hospital and the University of Rochester say their workers are dealing with an affordability crisis. News10NBC’s Declan Stablow was at Strong Memorial Hospital and spoke with workers about what they’re looking for in talks.
The unions are pushing for one agreement that prioritizes affordable health insurance and wage improvements. Retirement benefits and paid time off are also a key part of contract talks, the unions said.
Workers from both unions gathered at Trillium Health to get an update on contract talks. One worker told News10NBC things have been going slow.
“The care and insuring that staffing is taken care of, yes it’s ultimately about patient care, that’s the number one priority, but to your point, it also bleeds out into the community, when you look at the cost of gas and how that’s going up, and the cost of housing has gone up significantly to the point where we have individuals who are not making it underneath the current structure with this employer,” Tracey Harrison with 1199 SEIU said.
Harrison said that by making things more affordable for workers, the University of Rochester system will be able to retain more workers and offer better care. The current contract is set to expire one week from Saturday.
Harrison didn’t rule out a strike if they don’t get a new contract by then. The next contract talks will be on Tuesday.
A federal mediator is at the negotiations. Workers at the campaign kickoff also had a chance to register for childcare.
News10NBC reached out to URMC to see if it has any statement on the contract talks but hasn’t heard back. The negotiations began on Aug. 6.
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