A contract dispute between Cape Cod Healthcare and one of its unions has gone public.
The issues are salary and Cape Cod Healthcare's proposal to require some employees to begin paying a greater share of the cost of health insurance.
Members of the Service Employees International Union 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers demonstrated on Main Street in Hyannis, not far from Cape Cod Hospital, on Wednesday afternoon.
As her fellow workers chanted “no contract, no peace” and “Hyannis is a union town,” Cape Cod Hospital employee Denise Litz-Walters said many kinds of workers are covered by the Service Employees International Union.
“It’s pretty much everybody that's not a registered nurse. We’ve got therapists, diagnostic people, radiology, housekeeping, dietary workers.” In all, about 1,400 employees are covered by the contract.
The union staged the demonstration to draw attention to its concern about a proposal that Cape Cod Healthcare has made that calls for employees hired before 2011 to begin paying more of the cost of their health insurance.
CCHC said in a statement that those employees now pay 2 percent of the cost of health insurance. The proposal is for them to pay 5.5 percent in 2027 and 8.5 percent in 2028.
“Even with these adjustments, the proposal remains far below the national average employee premium contribution rate of 23 percent for family coverage. In addition, the healthcare premium share for part-time employees would be reduced significantly under the proposal,” the statement said.
Without giving specifics, Cape Cod Healthcare said it has also offered, “meaningful wage increases, enhancements to shift differentials and call pay, and measures to reduce healthcare premium costs for part-time employees.”
Contracts talks have been going on for more than six months, and a federal mediator is working with the two sides to try to get a resolution.
Workers at the rally said they are skeptical of CCHC’s statements about wages.
More than one said that without corresponding pay increases, many workers would lose money if they are required to pay more of the cost of health insurance,
“We’re looking for a fair contract. We’re looking to make sure that all of our members have livable, affordable wages to stay here on the Cape,” said Anika Barty, a longtime employee of CCHC. “We’re looking to make sure that those wages are competitive enough to keep them here as well. But what we’re also looking to do is make sure that health care is affordable.”
