Workers and Chicago religious leaders had a chance to sit down together at the AFSCME union office on August 1 for an informal dinner, where the faith leaders could learn about the reality for low wage workers in patient support at Resurrection Hospitals, now the second largest chain in Chicago, as you may recall from our action together in June. The corporation seems to be headed in the opposite direction from its Catholic mission at the moment, and so faith leaders are stepping up to help workers put the pressure on the hospital, such that they can get a union and advocate for what they deserve, without fear of losing their jobs.
When these workers from the laundry, housekeeping and food service departments at these various Chicago hospitals in the Resurrection chain, came together- they found that their experiences were validated by each other in the accompanying branches. These workers might not have met up with each other, if not for the union helping to bring them together, with the goal of getting the managers at the hospital to engage in a dialogue with workers. As workers from all of these various branches of the system compared notes- the emerging threads exposed very similar kinds of injustices- as system-wide ones at Resurrection.
Parents reported that they were burdeoned with the costs associated with the 'in house' health insurance plan offered by Resurrection. They have co-pays for each child at every doctor visit. They have to pay 20% of the costs of any medical care. They already pay $230 out of each pay period- just to receive the Resurrection insurance. This is toally not working for these folks who are getting $9/hour.
The comparison to the salary for a CEO of a Resurrection branch hospital is $500 an hour. The interfaith religious leaders who attended the dinner and listened to the issues the workers are facing, became alarmed. One pastor from the United Church of Christ, Rev. Randall Doubet-King stated, 'Every one of the workers in this room, making these low wages at Resurrection, would without a doubt technically fall below the poverty line, according to the latest report from the Hearltand Alliance that studies basic needs, living wages, and base standards of living in Chicago." The meeting included an analysis by the union of just how far short the wages are for workers at Resurrection. Using self-sufficiency standards of the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago, even the highest rate on Resurrection's wage scale for patient support staff, is too low to support even the smallest of families in the Chicago area, such as for a single parent of one school-age child. This exposes the inadequacy of Resurrection's latest move to try to appear to be increasing wages.
Resurrection recently announced that all patient support workers will start at $9/hour (up from $8.50) and will be capped at $13. 50/hr. The increases per year will be about 3%. We learned that miniscule increases can not begin to bring people to a living wage. We heard from one man who has worked for 27 years in patient support at Resurrection's St. Francis hospital, and his bit by bit gradual pay increases over nearly three decades now, mean that he is still not even making $13.50/hr. yet!
The meeting garnered energy among both workers and clergy for a next event to be a public prayer vigil at one of the hospitals. Full time workers providing support to our loved ones who have to go in to a Chicago hospital-- should not have to decide between paying their own health care versus paying the rent. When worker testimonies speak- they mobilize us all. Will post news from our vigil too...
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