PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Wednesday, August 16, 2023; Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 Solidarity Picket, Lutheran Hospital, 1730 W. 25^th Street: Two hundred SEIU members and friends and supporters from throughout the Greater Cleveland area came to show their support for SEIU 1199 members who are unsatisfied with the working conditions, benefits and compensation provided to their members by Cleveland Clinic. Lutheran Hospital is the only unionized hospital in the Cleveland Clinic system. SEIU 1199 represents caregivers at the hospital.

by Chuck Hoven

   Over two hundred picketers marched around Cleveland Clinic’s Lutheran Hospital on W. 25^th Street on August 16^th joining with members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 in a solidarity picket. Those picketing included members of SEIU 1199, other SEIU members from throughout Greater Cleveland and friends and supporters of the SEIU 1199 members.

   SEIU members have voted to authorize a strike if their union leadership cannot secure a fair contract with Cleveland Clinic. Workers are asking for benefits and pay on par with other Cleveland Clinic hospitals for caregivers doing the same work at other Cleveland Clinic hospitals. A decision to strike may come as early as the week of September 4^th, 2023.

   SEIU 1199 membership at Lutheran Hospital includes many workers who are involved with caretaking at the hospital. Among the positions staffed by SEIU members are positions as Licensed Practical Nurses, Nurses’ Aides, Environmental Services, Food Services, Sterile Processing, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Counselors, and secretarial staff at the nurses’ stations.

   In addition to pay and benefits, the union is asking Cleveland Clinic to address issues that have to do with the treatment of caregivers at the hospital. The picketers brought up complaints of harassment, intimidation, discrimination, and other attacks directed at caregivers at the hospital.

   One long time employee at Lutheran Hospital, now retired, said that the hospital administration has been trying to break the union at Lutheran Hospital for years. Noting that Lutheran Hospital is the only unionized hospital in the Cleveland Clinic system, the retired employee attributed the lower benefits and pay to an effort by Cleveland Clinic to break the union.

   Several Union Members made statements concerning working condition issues that SEIU 1199 sent out to members.

   Staci Richardson, a SEIU 1199 member who had worked in the Sterile Processing Department at Lutheran Hospital, said “I have dedicated years of my time, energy, and the love for what I do, WITHOUT CONDITION, to Cleveland Clinic Lutheran Hospital: for the patients that we serve! Unfortunately, the hospital has not reciprocated the same. In fact, just the opposite. I made reports and complaints to Clinic HR, against management, for discrimination and retaliation and I received nothing in response, no action taken by the hospital to stop what was happening or to protect me. I am on the union bargaining team and I know my rights, so I speak up about injustices at work. Instead of addressing the concerns I raised, they fired me last week. I’m not backing down! I’m fighting for my job, and I WILL be on the strike line with my sisters and brothers at Lutheran Hospital. The Cleveland Clinic has to do better!”

   Lutheran Hospital Employee and SEIU member Caregiver Annette Foley says, “I am blessed to be able to do what I love for the patients that we serve! It’s all about making a difference in the lives of others for me. It’s different for the leadership at the Clinic though. They always want more for less and we all feel it! It is just stressful to think about going to work every day. We do our best but it’s never enough. It takes a toll on you mentally. It’s just toxic.”

   Picketers wore tee-shirts that asked the question “If caregivers can’t trust the Cleveland Clinic? Should You?” Dionne Thomas Carmichael, a member of the Services Employees International Union, but not a Lutheran Hospital employee, said she was supporting SEIU 1199 workers in their effort to let people in Cleveland know that the Lutheran Hospital workers are not satisfied with how they are being treated by Cleveland Clinic. She thought it was a travesty that employees of Lutheran Hospital were being paid less that employees of other Cleveland Clinic hospitals for doing the same work.

   Among those showing solidarity with the SEIU 1199 were some prominent Cleveland leaders. State School Board Member and host of the Radio Program “It’s About Justice” Meryl Johnson, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor candidate Matthew Ahn, and Reverend Emmitt T. Caviness, the President of the Board of the National Action Network Cleveland Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference joined in the picketing of Cleveland Clinic’s Lutheran Hospital.

The SEIU urges those with stories to tell about the care they received from SEIU 1199 workers at Lutheran Hospital to tell their stories by calling the Patients of Cleveland Clinic Care Hotline at 1-888-388-5612. The Patients of Cleveland Clinic Care Hotline is run by SEIU 1199.