Connecticut News from your locally owned & operated news source at the state Capitol since 2005.

Windham Hospital nurses kicked off a 48-hour strike on Thursday morning, sheltering from a sporadic lightning storm under tents and umbrellas as they attempted to press Hartford HealthCare for contracts that include better wages and insurance benefits.

“We started at 7 a.m. with rain, lightning and thunder as well but we’re here, alive, and that has not deterred us in any way,” Andrea Riley, president of the Windham Federation of Professional Nurses, said from beneath a popup tent on Willimantic’s Mansfield Avenue. 

“Nobody left. We’re not leaving. The nurses are out of it. They understand we’re fighting a big corporation and we need to do this now,” Riley said.

The strike, which will continue until Saturday morning, comes after dozens of negotiation sessions with the hospital system dating back to last December when contracts expired for both the nurses and a separate bargaining unit representing most of the hospital’s non-clinical employees. 

Riley, a Windham Hospital nurse since 2001, said the negotiations have already paid dividends. The health care system has agreed to eliminate the use of mandatory overtime shifts, which she said administrators had employed to avoid filling staffing shortages. Andrea Riley, president of the Windham Federation of Professional Nurses, on strike on Sept. 22, 2022 Credit: Hugh McQuaid / CTNewsJunkie

“When you eliminate things like mandatory overtime it forces the hospital to actually staff correctly, to pay attention to staffing holes, to look at the call-outs, to have a plan in place beforehand so you don’t have these problems, you don’t have to mandate,” Riley said.

However, the AFT union representatives argued the hospital system has been unwilling to budge on compensation and health care benefits.

“When you work a nurse to the bone and she has substandard health care that she can’t afford, you’re not going to get the care that you need,” Riley said. “Nurses are not robots. You cannot plug us in at the end of the day.”

In a statement issued Thursday, Windham Hospital President Donna Handley called the labor strike disappointing and said the hospital system had been responsive to the issues presented by the union and remained willing to consider reasonable counter proposals. 

“The hospital has worked hard to prevent nurses from walking out on patients. We are disappointed by the union’s decision,” Handley said. “We have continually compromised to find common ground throughout this long negotiating process. We remain hopeful that the parties will be able to reach agreement on a new contract in the near future.”

The hospital will continue to operate as usual throughout the labor strike, which will not affect patient care, Handley said. 

The nurses, many wearing clear rain ponchos, were joined Thursday by members of the non-clinical staff union, who are also negotiating new contracts with the hospital system. Those workers — everything from food service employees to x-ray technicians — were conducting an informational picket and also casting ballots on whether to launch their own strike in the coming weeks.

Heather Howlett, president of WCMH United Employees, said she believed that a strike was likely, in part because the hospital system has pressured her members to accept an offer not backed by the bargaining unit.

“The administration has done a wonderful job of pushing people to our side even if they weren’t in the beginning,” Howlett said. “They’ve been bullying our members.”

Like the nurses, Howlett said the stormy weather had done little to deter her members.

“We had quite the downpour, we had some lightning but it didn’t change our stride,” she said. “The weather changed but our fight did not.” More Labor News Attorney Zachary Reiland State To Diamantis: No Take Backs of Resignation A hearing of a state personnel panel ended Monday without a decision whether to take up a grievance by Kosta Diamantis, an embattled former state official who resigned from at least one of his positions last year. Diamantis, a former lawmaker, served as both the deputy secretary for Connecticut’s chief budgetary agency and the administrator… Keep reading by Christine Stuart and Hugh McQuaid September 20, 2022, 5:00 amSeptember 19, 2022, 6:16 pm Andrea Riley, president of the Windham Federation of Professional Nurses Windham Hospital Nurses On Verge of Strike Nurses at Windham Hospital notified Hartford HealthCare on Monday that they planned to engage in a two-day strike beginning next Thursday over allegations of unfair labor practices during prolonged contract negotiations.  The group of nurses and non-management Windham Hospital workers, both represented by AFT CT unions, have been working without a contract since December.  “During… Keep reading by Christine Stuart September 13, 2022, 12:00 pmSeptember 13, 2022, 11:28 am An image from the CT Voices for Children’s report titled, “The State of Working Connecticut.” Report: Connecticut Begins To Close Income Inequality Gap A new report from the nonprofit Connecticut Voices for Children found greater real wage growth for low- and middle-wage workers over the past two years, but it hasn’t been enough to offset 40 years of income inequality. Keep reading by Christine Stuart September 8, 2022, 12:00 pmSeptember 9, 2022, 2:02 pm Department of Labor (CTNewsJunkie file photo) Unemployment Fraud Continues To Climb Some Connecticut employers are flagging what they believe is the growing problem of unemployment fraud in the state.  Employers are receiving an increase in unemployment claims for employees who still work for the company or who never worked for the company. The Department of Labor said it’s not a problem with their system, but simply… Keep reading by Christine Stuart August 26, 2022, 12:00 pmAugust 29, 2022, 10:57 am U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Frontier workers Union Slams Frontier For Fiber Mess Communication workers and labor-friendly politicians called out Frontier Communications for prioritizing underqualified subcontractors over full-time, well-trained employees as the telecommunications giant expands its fiber optic Internet services across the state. Read more from the New Haven Independent. Keep reading by Nora Grace-Flood August 25, 2022, 9:43 pmAugust 25, 2022, 9:43 pm Open kitchen (Emilie Bourdages via Shutterstock) Survey: Inflation Is The New Obstacle For Restaurants The COVID-19 pandemic may have been bad for restaurants, but inflation is even worse, according to a new survey by the Connecticut Restaurant Association. The survey found that 43% of Connecticut restaurateurs say business conditions are worse today than they were three months ago.  Keep reading by Christine Stuart August 24, 2022, 11:00 amAugust 24, 2022, 1:17 am Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!

A hearing of a state personnel panel ended Monday without a decision whether to take up a grievance by Kosta Diamantis, an embattled former state official who resigned from at least one of his positions last year. Diamantis, a former lawmaker, served as both the deputy secretary for Connecticut’s chief budgetary agency and the administrator… Keep reading by Christine Stuart and Hugh McQuaid September 20, 2022, 5:00 amSeptember 19, 2022, 6:16 pm

Nurses at Windham Hospital notified Hartford HealthCare on Monday that they planned to engage in a two-day strike beginning next Thursday over allegations of unfair labor practices during prolonged contract negotiations.  The group of nurses and non-management Windham Hospital workers, both represented by AFT CT unions, have been working without a contract since December.  “During…

A new report from the nonprofit Connecticut Voices for Children found greater real wage growth for low- and middle-wage workers over the past two years, but it hasn’t been enough to offset 40 years of income inequality. Keep reading by Christine Stuart September 8, 2022, 12:00 pmSeptember 9, 2022, 2:02 pm

Some Connecticut employers are flagging what they believe is the growing problem of unemployment fraud in the state.  Employers are receiving an increase in unemployment claims for employees who still work for the company or who never worked for the company. The Department of Labor said it’s not a problem with their system, but simply… Keep reading by Christine Stuart August 26, 2022, 12:00 pmAugust 29, 2022, 10:57 am

Communication workers and labor-friendly politicians called out Frontier Communications for prioritizing underqualified subcontractors over full-time, well-trained employees as the telecommunications giant expands its fiber optic Internet services across the state. Read more from the New Haven Independent. Keep reading by Nora Grace-Flood August 25, 2022, 9:43 pmAugust 25, 2022, 9:43 pm

The COVID-19 pandemic may have been bad for restaurants, but inflation is even worse, according to a new survey by the Connecticut Restaurant Association. The survey found that 43% of Connecticut restaurateurs say business conditions are worse today than they were three months ago.  Keep reading by Christine Stuart August 24, 2022, 11:00 amAugust 24, 2022, 1:17 am