ASHLAND —
Representatives from the Service Employees International Union are asking for extended health benefits and a hiring preference for employees laid off from King’s Daughters Medical Center on Tuesday.
Rob Johnson, Hospital Division director of the SEIU, District 1199, said the union is asking that laid off workers be given the opportunity to apply for any open positions at the hospital before anyone else. Officials are also asking that KDMC pay to extend the health insurance benefits of laid off employees for another month.
KDMC laid off 87 SEIU union-member employees and an unknown number of non-union employees on Tuesday. The SEIU District 1199 represents 661 KDMC employees, according to a press release.
Johnson said the discussions started at about 9 a.m. on Wednesday and was expected to last into the evening.
The meeting comes after complaints from the union that KDMC violated a collective bargaining agreement that includes giving union members seven days notice before a layoff.
Union member Brian Johnson, a former KDMC maintenance worker, said he got a phone call at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday telling him he was being laid off and asking him to come in to turn in his badge and clean out his locker.
At a meeting of union members Tuesday evening, Brian Johnson said he hoped the meeting between the hospital and the union would mean he could get his job back.
Clint Salmons, a distribution clerk at KDMC and board member for the local SEIU chapter, said he found out about layoffs through word of mouth on Tuesday. Salmons said he kept both his job and his hours, but many of his coworkers weren’t as lucky.
He said at the union meeting Tuesday that advance notice of layoffs and cuts in hours would have allowed workers to save money and arrange schedules in preparation for the changes.
“You hear rumors, but you don’t act on rumors,” Salmons said.
Rob Johnson said officials have been unresponsive to questions about hospital finances during the meeting.
KDMC declined to comment on the meetings, but released the following statement:
“Our focus today is on taking care of patients and taking care of our team members. We stand by the statement we released yesterday.”
KDMC sent out a press release on Tuesday stating that layoffs were necessary because of financial difficulties during the economic recession, including close to $100 million in unreimbursed care and bad debt.
An SEIU press release on Wednesday stated that KDMC’s 2009 audited financial statement lists hospital profits at about $31.6 million.
“They can’t prove that to us,” Johnson said about claims of financial hardship.
KDMC is Ashland’s top employer, with more than 4,200 employees. In 2008, the hospital’s employees represented more than 14 percent of overall city employment.
On Tuesday, Rob Johnson said he also plans on filing a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board, but the first step in the process is to discuss the grievance with the employer.
KATIE BRANDENBURG can be reached at kbrandenburg@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.
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