WCHN

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:

 

 

Danbury - Service, environmental, maintenance and other vital patient care providers at Danbury and New Milford Hospitals are taking additional steps to hold the network operating both facilities accountable under the law. An employee last week anonymously filed a "whistleblower" complaint under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). The action followed patient medical information breaches by outside consultants retained by the Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) to thwart both facilities' healthcare workers' legally protected efforts to form a union. 

 

Danbury - Technologists and clinicians at Danbury Hospital are responding to two National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisions supporting their ongoing efforts to unite for a voice in decisions impacting patient care. The board’s regional director yesterday directed a union election for approximately 300 surgical technologists, radiology technologists, licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and respiratory clinicians employed by the Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN). Separately the board yesterday also issued a complaint and scheduled hearings over charges the non-profit network has engaged in illegal labor practices against the same group of employees.