A group of Northwell Core Laboratories workers unionized in September. They still don’t have a union contract. So, they’re taking their frustration to the picket line as they say negotiations stall.
Over 150 of the roughly 850 Northwell lab technicians, phlebotomists and other laboratory workers who unionized under the 1199SEUI United Healthcare Workers East union last fall held a roughly three-hour informational picket outside the main New Hyde Park Core Lab facility Wednesday afternoon in the 90-degree heat, receiving honks of support for their signs and chants from passing cars.
The group processes a wide range of patient tests, including those for COVID-19, cancer and STDs. They emphasized that they are not on strike and that their goal with the picket was to pressure Northwell to move negotiations forward.
“Bargaining really hasn’t been going like you would expect it to go,” said Patrick Shanley, a Northwell lab worker and bargaining committee member. “We’ve been at the table for over six months now, and we’ve barely made progress. They’re talking about uniforms, but not talking about benefits or pension funds or anything like that.”
“We’re just frustrated,” he continued. “We’re at a point where we realize that Northwell is going to drag this out as long as they can, because they just don’t want to give us a fair contract.”
Members said they are seeking to obtain a contract that mirrors the one over 20,000 other Northwell lab workers also unionized under 1199 SEUI, who have the same job titles and do the same work they do, have. That contract, referred to as a league contract, includes no-cost family health insurance, guaranteed pensions, education funds, and childcare benefits.
“We’re looking for all the benefits of the league contract,” said Narda Skyers, a bargaining committee member and phlebotomist. “If you look at what is currently going on, Medicare might not be there for us. Social Security might not be there for us. We have families to provide for. We need what our other coworkers are getting, like those at Long Island Jewish, because we work just the same.”
About half of the newly unionized group works at the main Core Laboratories facility in New Hyde Park, while the other half works at 32 Northwell sub-facility sites in New York City and Long Island, including Farmingdale, Great Neck, Syosset, Glen Cove and Long Beach.
Northwell emphasized that the group of workers was not on strike and said they were committed to constructively bargaining to reach a contract.
“We respect our laboratory team members’ right to conduct informational picketing,” Northwell said in a statement. “This is not a strike, and we want to assure our patients and the community that normal laboratory operations will continue, providing uninterrupted, superior care, which remains our top priority.”
“We are committed to engaging in constructive, good-faith negotiations with 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East to reach a fair contract that supports our dedicated laboratory workers and upholds the high-quality care our patients deserve,” the statement continues.
However, when bargaining committee member Gloria Celusma, a Core Laboratories technician who processes 1,000 to 3,000 tests a day, was asked about how contract negotiations were going, she answered with two words: “Not well.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Celusma said. “Getting the contract we’re working for would mean a lot. We’re gonna have a pension. We’re gonna be treated like all the other 20,000 workers on the island.”
Other workers echoed Celusma’s sentiments, saying they felt negotiations were not focused on the issues most important to them and were taking too long. They said they hoped their Wednesday informational picket resulted in more progress at their next bargaining session.
“We want what 20,000 other Northwell employees have,” Shanley said. “We’re hoping that Northwell will come to their senses and come to the table and negotiate fairly, and we can move things along a lot quicker. But if not, our picket here demonstrates the fact that we can unionize and we can unite and we can organize, and we can step out if we have to. But, we don’t want to.”
The group’s next bargaining session with Northwell is set for early August.
Read more: Nurses picket Northwell Health, demand fair contracts
