E-News: May 16, 2024
An updated Union Directory listing union goods and services in R.I. can be found on our website at Rhode Island AFL-CIO under the “Resources” tab.
Here is the direct link—-> Union Directory
WPRI Channel 12: ‘It hurts’: Union president weighs in about threat of teacher layoffs in Providence
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The coming weeks are full of uncertainty around possible teacher layoffs, according to the head of the Providence Teachers Union.
PTU President Maribeth Calabro told Target 12 that while the Providence Public School District has been warning about layoffs since last year, it has still come as a shock for teachers as the process begins.
Nearly 60 non-tenured educators — most of whom were physical education teachers or school counselors — were notified last week that their contracts won’t be renewed for the upcoming school year, and Calabro said at least one teacher has been laid off.
“We haven’t had layoffs in Providence for more than 10 years,” Calabro said. “That hurts. It hurts the teacher, it hurts the community and school that they’re in.”
Calabro said the union will have conversations with the affected teachers on Thursday to discuss their rights, like seeking unemployment benefits.
The job cuts will be reviewed by the Providence School Board at a May 22 meeting, but according to Calabro, the education commissioner has the final say since the city schools are currently under state control.
Under state law, the deadline to lay off a teacher is June 1.
The non-renewal notices are another sign of financial strain in the state-run school district, as federal money tied to the COVID-19 pandemic is set to expire. The district is also in an ongoing legal dispute over how much the city should contribute to the schools. Read more here.
Providence Journal: Women & Infants Hospital has quietly shifted to treat more men. Why nurses are concerned.
Rhode Islanders tend to think of Women & Infants Hospital as the place where babies are born. After all, it’s right there in the name.
But a growing number of patients are men and children, according to the union that represents nurses and other hospital staffers. That’s not necessarily a problem, workers said at an informational picket this week, but they want more training and more communication about the shift than they see happening.
“A lot of our members are saying that they just want to be part of the conversation,” said Heather Kelley, an elected organizer with SEIU 1199 New England. “If there are going to be changes, we don’t want to find out on a billboard.”
Has the patient population really changed?
Under federal law, Women & Infants has to treat anyone that walks through its doors, according to Doreen Scanlon Gavigan, public relations manager for Care New England, which owns the hospital.
“That’s nothing new,” she said. “It’s something we’ve been doing for a long time.”
However, she acknowledged, the emergency department recently expanded its “care offerings” and can now treat more conditions.
“In that way, we have opened our doors to whom we can treat,” she said. “It’s more than just pregnant people.”
Providence Business News: Handle with care: Fate of hospitals in balance as regulators review $193M deal
Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. was seen as a hero a decade ago, swooping in to prop up the struggling Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence.
Prospect, a California-based private equity firm, purchased the health care facilities associated with CharterCARE Health Partners in 2014, including the two hospitals that were drowning in millions of dollars of debt.
Among the employees at Roger Williams and Fatima, there was a sense of relief as Prospect initially invested in the facilities and didn’t seek substantial changes to job benefits or staffing.
But the hero status has long since worn away.
The two hospitals are in financial danger again – losing millions of dollars annually – and some health care workers say the facilities are suffering from a severe lack of investment. Prospect is looking for the escape hatch.
The for-profit entity started putting its assets across the U.S. up for sale in December 2021 and says that in more than two years, the only viable buyer it has found for the two Rhode Island-based hospitals is The Centurion Foundation Inc., an Atlanta-based nonprofit that lacks a track record in operating hospitals.
The proposed $193 million deal – which includes a $160 million purchase for the hospitals, as well as other physician groups and offices that CharterCARE operates – contains positives.
Centurion says it will hire 200 additional workers and place $80 million on the hospitals’ balance sheets to be invested in improvements. But not everyone is sold on the potential transaction. Read more here.
The Rhode Island Current: And then there were seven: RIPTA narrows down potential sites for Providence bus hub
PROVIDENCE — After months of keeping mum on the number of potential locations to build a new state-of-the art transit center, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) finally announced Monday it has narrowed its list down to seven sites.
RIPTA unveiled the picks during a public workshop in the lobby of the Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence — the first in a series of three engagement sessions to garner input on the bus agency’s plan to move its hub in Kennedy Plaza elsewhere.
“It’s been a long time coming,” interim CEO Christopher Durand told reporters Monday afternoon. “I think we’re much earlier in this process than everybody thinks we are.”
RIPTA’s Board of Directors in January approved a nearly $16.9 million contract with Next Wave Partners to start design work for a mixed-use bus hub. The new building would offer a number of amenities not offered at Kennedy Plaza such as larger indoor waiting areas, expanded restrooms, digital screens to track bus arrivals and departures, and WiFi.
RIPTA and representatives from the consortium of companies developing the new bus hub will host another public engagement session at the Community College of Rhode Island Knight Campus in Warwick on Thursday, May 30, from 4 to 7 p.m.
RIPTA also plans to hold a third meeting on the matter virtually, but had yet to schedule it as of Monday.
“It’s a unique opportunity here,” said Christopher Marsella, whose Providence-based Marsella Development Corporation is part of the consortium of six companies contracted to build the new bus hub. Read more here.
The Providence Journal: Slater Mill was site of America’s first factory strike 200 years ago | Opinion
Scott Molloy is a University of Rhode Island professor emeritus and founder of the R.I. Labor History Society.
On May 25, 1824, two centuries ago, several hundred young women at Slater Mill in Pawtucket marched into American history.
They became the very first females in the new industrial order to protest an abridgement in overall working conditions. These teenagers took matters into their own hands when global competition (from England) and new technology (the power loom) jeopardized job security and work rules at the nation’s first textile factory.
The strike, or “turnout” in the language of the day, unleashed a torrent of bitterness against the manufacturing masters who replaced the British elite after the American Revolution. The walkout detonated demonstrations and arson along the Blackstone River that gave its name to an archipelago of cloth mills.
Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, the youngest member of the famous slave trading Brown Brothers (Brown University), sought new revenues. He saw an opportunity from the old Mother Country. He shrewdly hired a skilled English Immigrant, Samuel Slater, to build and operate a pathbreaking and iconic textile mill in 1790.
Laborers Local 271 Twitter:
Congrats to @GSTMFSabitoni and @LIUNA VP&NE Regional Manager Donato A. Bianco, Jr. on being named @GreaterProvYMCA Heroes for all the community work the #Laborers have done together w/ the Y
IBEW Local 99 Twitter:
Great job on your leadership for the future day of action project Nicki Kent and Sidney Jablonski
Sandra Cano Twitter:
Awesome job by Leadership for a Future on your advocacy day at the Rhode Island State House! As an alumni of the program I love to see the participants of this year doing an amazing job with their projects! My favorite #InvestinMultilinguallearners @riaflcio #ProudAlumni
RI State Association of Firefighters Facebook:
On May 11, 2024 firefighters from throughout Rhode Island attended the celebration of service at the Rhode Island Firefighters Memorial. Thank you to President Emeritus Paul Reed for assisting in laying the wreath. We remember all those firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Local 37 Steelworkers Facebook:
HB Welding and Local 37 erecting Tidewater Stadium in Pawtucket.
IBEW:
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Proudly Presents:
CAVALCADE OF BANDS
TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2024
5:30 PM
RHODES ON THE PAWTUXET CRANSTON, RI
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United Way of RI: 2024 Children’s Book Drive
Providence, R.I. (March 1, 2024) United Way of Rhode Island’s Children’s Book Drive is returning for its twelfth year. In April and May, United Way is once again partnering with Books Are Wings to help Rhode Island children build their own libraries at home.
Rhode Islanders are invited to buy and ship books, drop off new and gently used books at a community collection site, or host a drive with their family, friends, or coworkers.
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The Institute for Labor Studies & Research has scheduled a Negotiation Training Workshop
A two-session program that will prepare negotiations committee members to develop, cost and present proposals. Participants will be exposed to the steps necessary for successful negotiations. The second session will be devoted to a three-hour mock negotiation, where participants will put into practice the skills acquired in the first session.
Dates/Times
Saturday – June 8, 2024: 9 am – 4 pm, Training in Negotiation
Tuesday – June 11, 2024, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Mock Negotiations*
*Mock Negotiations participation requires attendance at the Training in Negotiation session. Attendance at both sessions is required for completion.
Location
Institute for Labor Studies & Research
1540 Pontiac Ave, Suite A
Cranston, RI 02920
Cost $20 pp (No charge for RI AFL-CIO affiliated members)
Deadline: Thursday May 30, 2024
Registration is on a first come first served basis – spots are limited.
Contact Denise Cesino – dcesino@riilsr.org, 401-463-9900, dial 7 to register
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Join us on June 15th for the Providence Pride Parade! (Just 4 weeks away!)
Bring yourself and and loved ones, wear your union gear, and show your rainbow colors!
The Illuminated Night Parade will begin in the heart of Downtown Providence at approximately 8pm. From Washington and Empire St. traveling northeast toward Dorrance St. Viewing locations are available on Washington, Dorrance, and Weybosset St. (with a handicap viewing area on Weybosset St. near the PPAC – the Providence Performing Arts Center). Spectators must remain on the sidewalk behind the parade barricades at all times.
If you have any questions please reach out to Autumn Guillotte at autumn@riaflcio.org or 401-316-1359.
If you want a voice on the job or to build a better workplace, click the here to start organizing and taking action.
NEW EPISODE: RI AFL-CIO LUNCH & LEARN “ALL ABOUT ILSR”
This Labor Vision episode covers the RI AFL-CIO Lunch & Learn on the Institute for Labor Studies & Research. Autumn Guillotte, RI AFL-CIO Field Director, is joined by Robert Delaney, ILSR Executive Director, Haley De La Rosa, Labor Liaison, Fatima Martin, Director of Pathways to Education Professions, and Kevin McElroy, Occupational Health & Safety Program Coordinator to share about ILSR’s history, trainings, classes, and programs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBQLSWSAmdQ
Visit the ILSR website to learn more: www.riilsr.org
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