Across the street from a big banner that reads “Heroes Work Here,” Easton Hospital workers, union representatives and politicians shouted “shame” in unison to protest St. Luke’s University Health Network’s decision to not recognize the unions when it takes ownership of the hospital next month.
“This is what union busting looks like. … Shame on you,” said Northampton County Councilwoman Tara Zrinski, pointing out that St. Luke’s workers aren’t unionized.
St. Luke’s plans to replace the majority of union health care workers when it takes over Easton Hospital next month, a move that would effectively disband the two unions that represents nurses, laboratory technicians, clerks, transporters and other health care workers, according to a letter to the nurses’ union.
A St. Luke’s administrator wrote that the network “does not anticipate recognizing or bargaining with SEIU or UIU,” said Amy Hower, president of the local United Independent Union, which represents 165 nurses at Easton Hospital. The Service Employees International Union represents 165 health care workers at the hospital, which recently was sold to St. Luke’s by the for-profit company Steward Health Care.
“People are very unhappy and upset. They’re angry,” Hower said last week, noting that some nurses who have worked decades at Easton Hospital expect to lose their jobs.
On Thursday, the 50 or so union members and others at the rally, including County Executive Lamont McClure and state Rep. Bob Freeman, called on St. Luke’s to hire Easton Hospital employees, recognize the unions and maintain essential services.
“Despite receiving millions in state and federal dollars, St. Luke’s intends to strip Steward Easton Hospital to the bare minimum — eliminating 500 or more jobs, gutting several essential services, and replacing current Steward Easton Hospital employees in order to avoid negotiating with the union,” SEIU stated in a news release.
St. Luke’s says it is not trying to break the unions. The network also said it is not cutting jobs, pointing out Easton Hospital would have closed at the end of this month if St. Luke’s hadn’t stepped in.
“Primarily, we are trying to create an optimal mix of Easton Hospital and St. Luke’s employees such that there are enough St. Luke’s employees to ensure that the hospital can seamlessly function as a St. Luke’s facility on Day 1 [July 1],” St. Luke’s spokesman Sam Kennedy said.
St. Luke’s plans to run the hospital with about 115 employees to staff an emergency room and a 20-bed medical and surgical unit, CEO Rick Anderson said earlier this month. He said people who lose their jobs can apply for some 1,000 open positions at St. Luke’s.
Kennedy said St. Luke’s hired about 200 Easton Hospital employees, including primary care physicians and their staffs, and that it is reviewing applications for nearly 200 more.
As long as union employees in any given work category, such as nurses, don’t make up a majority in a facility, St. Luke’s doesn’t have to recognize the unions, according to labor law.
Freeman, D-Northampton, said he’s disappointed that St. Luke’s won’t be keeping “more than a handful of the current employees.” Freeman advocated for state funding to keep Easton Hospital open after Steward threatened to close it. Steward received $8 million from the state to keep the hospital open through the coronavirus crisis, until the end of June.
“We owe our front-line caregivers more respect and job security than they are being offered,” Freeman said. “Their livelihoods depends on it.”
Jill Debiasi, a nurse who has worked at Easton Hospital for 31 years, said St. Luke’s shouldn’t get rid of nurses who are familiar with staff and patients there.
“We’re so used to our community and our patients with chronic illnesses,” she said. “We know where everything is in the hospital.”
In 2018, Easton Hospital had more than 800 employees and 196 beds, according to the Pennsylvania Health Department. When Steward notified the state of a possible closure in May, it said the closure would affect nearly 700 workers.
“They’re coming out of this looking like heroes because they bought the hospital. But that’s not heroism. You bought the building and you got rid of everybody in it,” said Carol Lorah, a mental health worker at Easton Hospital and a local SEIU leader.
With the cuts, the Easton community is losing essential services like a psychiatric unit, Lorah said, because there’s already a shortage of those services and people will have to travel even farther for them.
For Debiasi, who grew up in Easton, it’s been more than a job. She has developed meaningful friendships with co-workers, who all know each other’s children and grandchildren and meet up after work.
“I enjoy taking care of people. I love to be at bedside,” she said. “I love to talk to my patients.”
She was blindsided by St. Luke’s decision.
“They left us out in the cold,” she said.
Morning Call reporter Binghui Huang can be reached at 610-820-6745 and Bhuang@mcall.com.