Sacred Heart Denies Wages To Chicago Hospital Workers
(CHICAGO) – Sacred Heart Hospital on Chicago’s West Side is turning its back this holiday season on families in need—the certified nursing assistants, dieticians and housekeepers who keep the hospital running.
About 35 workers represented by Teamsters Local 743 are locked in a years-long contract dispute with Sacred Heart administrators, who hope to maintain wage freezes dealt to its employees for the last four years. Sacred Heart also wants to strip away medical benefits and leave hospital workers to fend for themselves to find and afford health insurance.
“How can a hospital can do this to its own workers?” asked Debra Simmons-Peterson, Local 743 Secretary-Treasurer. “All these workers want for Christmas is a fair contract. They’ve been fighting tooth-and-nail for more than a year just to get a living wage increase, to get something for their families. This hostility from Sacred Heart must end.”
Chicago Teamsters, labor supporters, clergy and community leaders are encouraged to join Local 743 for its Fair Contract Rally and Prayer Vigil at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011, at Sacred Heart Hospital, 3240 W. Franklin Blvd., Chicago.
Teamsters at Sacred Heart earn between $9-$12 per hour, little more than Illinois’ minimum wage. While administrators, led by CEO Edward Novak, agreed to a one-year contract extension with wage freezes last fall, the current impasse may push the extension to its deadline this month.
“Sacred Heart’s income last year surpassed $4 million, and the CEO took home $220,000,” said Donnie Von Moore, Local 743 President. “Yet they can’t pay their workers enough to compete with the cost of living? I don’t buy it. Our members have been forced to sacrifice everything, and they do it, because delivering care to some of the city’s poorest patients matters.”
On Dec. 10, Local 743 members will share their struggle with Rev. Jesse Jackson during the Rainbow Push Coalition’s radio broadcast in Chicago. The program will air 9-11 a.m. Saturday.