Western Connecticut Healthcare Network

Speaking Out for Essential Workers Who Risked it All

Fri, 03/26/2021 - 1:30pm
Local and state union activists and leaders earlier this month turned-out in record numbers to advocate for themselves and fellow frontliners impacted by the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) crisis. The occasion was a legislative public hearing held by the Connecticut General Assembly's committee that oversees employment policies and practices. Joined by members of allied labor organizations, they took a strong stand to demand restitution for their sacrifices and preparation for the next pandemic.
 

"Winning a Better Future for More Working People"

Tue, 07/30/2019 - 5:30pm
Veteran labor activists in both the private and the public sectors will attest to significant challenges in winning initial and first successor union contracts. AFT Connecticut-affiliated locals secured such collective bargaining agreements, arbitration awards and memoranda of understanding over the past three months. We're highlighting two of these important victories, which demonstrated how member engagement and internal organizing can overcome steep obstacles and make meaningful gains.
 

Med Techs & Therapists at Danbury, New Milford Hospitals Celebrate First Contract

Fri, 03/11/2016 - 12:30pm
Danbury - Medical technicians and clinicians at Danbury and New Milford Hospitals yesterday voted overwhelmingly to ratify a first-ever contract following more than a year of negotiations with their employer. The union of approximately 260 surgical and radiologic technologists, licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and respiratory therapists cast ballots 10 to one in favor of the tentative agreement reached with management.
 

Tech Professionals at Danbury Hospital Recommit to Putting "Patients Before Profits"

Thu, 12/17/2015 - 10:30am
Danbury - Surgical and radiologic technologists, licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and respiratory therapists at Danbury and New Milford Hospitals yesterday voted to retain their union representation and resume contract negotiations with their employer. The decertification election was scheduled two weeks earlier following a petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by a minority of employees within the group of approximately 260 caregivers.
 

Labor History Lesson: The Alberta Nurses' Strike

Fri, 11/27/2015 - 4:30am
Dr. Martin Luther King famously said in 1965 during the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Time and again working people have demonstrated this to be true by engaging in struggle today for progress won tomorrow. AFT Connecticut Secretary-Treasurer Ed Leavy shared the story of a victory by Canadian health professionals 27 years in the making in his October "Vocational Instructor" labor history column:
 

Spotlight: Hospital Radiologic Technologists

Fri, 11/13/2015 - 4:30pm
It is often said that doctors can't prescribe a cure if they don't know what the ailment is. In acute care settings a correct diagnosis frequently relies on the important work of radiologic technologists -- or "rad techs." During the annual recognition of these vital hands-on healers, we are spotlighting union members who produce the medical imagery allowing physicians to "discover the inside story" of their patients.
 
Click here for commentary on the value of rad techs.
 

Danbury Hospital Leadership Indicted on Charges of "Restraining, Coercing" Caregivers

Sun, 11/01/2015 - 10:00am
Danbury - Service, maintenance, environmental workers and nursing assistants at Danbury and New Milford Hospitals are reacting to a complaint issued in response to charges their employer violated federal labor laws. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Thursday scheduled hearings over illegal practices conducted by Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) managers and consultants against the group of approximately 800 employees. The board's complaint cites violations that were part of a coordinated campaign by the non-profit's top executives to subvert their healthcare workers' legal rights to form a union.
 

Hospital Board Member Challenged for "Putting Squeeze" on Caregivers

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 3:30pm
New Orleans - The responsibility of a Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) board member for wasting patient care dollars was today raised at the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA)'s national meeting. Leaflets calling attention to IIABA Vice Chair Spencer Houldin's role in ongoing labor disputes at Danbury and New Milford Hospitals were distributed at the association's fall leadership conference. AFT President Randi Weingarten was joined by AFT Connecticut Vice President Shellye Davis in distributing the information and discussing the issue with industry chiefs from across the country.
 

Comments on Hospital Executives and Lobbyists' Call for Special Legislative Session

Tue, 09/22/2015 - 3:00pm
John Brady, RN, executive vice-president of AFT Connecticut, made the following remarks in response to comments by health network officials at today’s Republican legislative leaders' Capitol news briefing:
 

US Gov't: Danbury, New Milford Hospital Management Interfered with "Employee Free Choice"

Thu, 09/17/2015 - 1:30pm
Danbury - Healthcare professionals at Danbury and New Milford Hospitals are reacting to the recommendation yesterday by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to invalidate the results of their June 19 union election. In her report, Hearing Officer Jo Anne Howlett cites evidence to sustain charges of unlawful interference with employees' free choice by management of the non-profit network that operates both facilities. The report is based on testimony provided in July by impacted workers who recounted illegal, anti-union conduct by managers and outside consultants retained by the Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN).
 
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