Auburn health-care union protests stall in contract negotiations

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Union rally 1

About 60 members of 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers East and other various unions rallied outside Auburn Community Hospital to support the Auburn union's efforts to secure its first contract with Auburn Memorial Medical Services.

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Mary Catalfamo, The Citizen

Union rally 2

Kristen Wiers, left, and Alyssa Smith speak to the crowd about their experience working at Surgical Services of Auburn and 1199 SEIU's bargaining efforts with AMMS.

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Mary Catalfamo, The Citizen

Union rally 3

Signs are up for the taking before a rally outside Auburn Community Hospital late Thursday afternoon.

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Mary Catalfamo, The Citizen

AUBURN -- Members of an Auburn health-care union have been in negotiations for more than a year in an attempt to secure its first contract.

A crowd of about 60 members of 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers East and other various unions rallied outside Auburn Community Hospital late Thursday afternoon -- renewing their demands with chants and speeches.

About 660 medical professionals employed by Auburn Memorial Medical Services, a multi-specialty physicians group affiliated with Auburn Community Hospital, are bargaining under the 1199 SEIU local chapter that gained bargaining rights in October 2018.

The union chapter represents about 20 categories of AMMS employees, including registered nurses, nurses practitioners and others working at the Auburn hospital -- as well as other local healthcare facilities like the Auburn Nursing Home and Auburn Senior Services.

In the past, 1199 SEIU has stated its intentions to bargain for wage increases, better insurance and benefits to address issues with staff retention and quality of medical care.

Communications Coordinator Allison Krause said the members have been looking for raises and fair treatment of longtime employees. One speaker at Thursday's rally said she received an 98 cent raise since she started working for Auburn Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine eight years ago.

Krause said the negotiations are just getting into economics. "Their first proposal was 0% for the entire contract after they've been in negotiations for a year already," Krause said.

Surgical Services employee Kristen Wiers took a full-time clinical medical assistant position after working as a flow employee in multiple offices.

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In a speech, she listed her duties: rooming patients, getting family and medical history, assisting with wound care and in-office procedures, filling out paperwork, sterilizing surgical equipment and more.

"All of these responsibilities added onto my plate and I've not seen one extra penny in my pay check," Wiers said. She added how patient care can be disrupted when more senior staff have to train new hires as a result of suffering staff retention. She said they often do that at a lower wage than the new employees.

A labor relations specialist from AFSCME read a statement from union president Dan DiClemente that characterized management efforts as "union busting" and supported 1199 SEIU's contract efforts.

Politicians like Dana Balter, former Auburn City Councilor Dia Carabajal and 50th state Senate District candidate Joe Mannion of Geddes also showed up to support the union.

In a statement, ACH spokesperson Matthew Chadderdon said administration has been meeting with the union "on a regular basis and have successfully negotiated tentative agreements" on at least 18 articles in the new contract.

"Unfortunately, there are still many bargaining subjects that remain unresolved, including economic subjects such as wages," he said. The variety of specialized work of employees across multiple physicians offices and industry factors on a national and state level pose challenges, Chadderdon said.

"1199 SEIU is well aware of these challenges and any attempt to distort the truth and create adverse publicity for our facilities is evidence of bad faith on the Union's part, not on the part of the Hospital or AMMS," he continued.

He reiterated that administration will continue to work toward finalizing a contract for AMMS employees that "makes sense for our facilities, for our staff, and for the community we serve, just as we have done for decades."

Before the crowd dispersed, administrator organizer Tiffany Fotopoulos had a parting request for them. "We're going to ask for everyone to call Jessica Mayo, AMMS Vice President of HR," she said.

A large sign with Mayo's phone number was brought to the front of the crowd. "Send a message to her saying AMMS workers deserve a fair contract and they deserve it now. Quit stalling!" Fotopoulos said.

Staff writer Mary Catalfamo can be reached at (315) 282-2244 or mary.catalfamo@lee.net. Find her on Twitter @mrycatalfamo.

mary catalfamo

Mary Catalfamo

Crime/courts reporter

I cover criminal court, public safety and the Cayuga County government for The Citizen and auburnpub.com. You can also find my health and entertainment features online and in the Lake Life section of the paper.

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