News

While we are committed to reaching an agreement with a strike only one week away, we will now prepare to ensure continuity of our care for our patients.

As many of you are aware, Butler’s negotiations with SEIU 1199 NE have continued this week with assistance from a mediator at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). The hospital has continued to bargain in good faith, with the continued goal of reaching an agreement that acknowledges the important work of our dedicated team members while ensuring the hospital’s financial stability in a political and economic environment that will make things very difficult over the coming years.

This afternoon, Butler Hospital put forward its most lucrative proposal to date, which addresses the key issues that delegates and employees have indicated are their top priorities: increasing wages for those who need it most, working collaboratively on workplace safety, opportunities for education and training that lead to career advancement, and access to affordable health insurance options.

Butler Hospital is focused on negotiating an agreement with SEIU 1199 NE for Butler employees. We aren’t going to be distracted by the union’s tactics at other Care New England Operating Units – we’re focused on you. We want to reach a competitive Total Rewards package that reflects your great work while ensuring financial sustainability for our organization.

On April 29th, SEIU 1199 NE delayed proceedings into the early afternoon (despite having two weeks to prepare), provided a counterproposal with minimal movement on key economic items, and then presented a strike notice when Butler’s negotiating team declined to immediately respond. They have indicated the strike will begin May 15th at 6:00 a.m.

As part of offering a Total Rewards package that is both competitive for employees and sustainable for the organization, Butler is proposing that new employees hired after 12/31/2025 be enrolled in a 403(b) retirement plan with a 6% company match in lieu of participation in the current Butler pension plan. The proposed change would not affect current employees. This document separates the fact from fiction about retirement plans.

One of the key changes to the hospital’s April 15th economic proposal was an increase in the starting salary for all positions to a minimum of $17 per hour, applied before the Hospital’s proposed across-the-board increases.

Unfortunately, violence against healthcare workers is an increasing problem nationally and locally. Healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than employees in other industries.

To more clearly illustrate how pay increases would work over the life of the contract, we’re providing examples using fictional employees from each Bargaining Unit.

During yesterday’s negotiations, Butler put forward our initial economic proposals on wages, benefits and retirement. These proposals acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our team members, providing for a competitive total rewards package that includes wage increases along with competitive health and retirement benefits plans that reward our team members while also remaining sustainable for the hospital in the current unstable political and economic environment.

In the coming weeks, we will begin negotiations for new contracts with our colleagues represented by 1199SEIU. Before that process begins, I want to first and foremost express gratitude for the hard work and dedication that all our employees and staff have displayed over the past few years. You have acted with professionalism and compassion as behavioral health needs in the community have evolved over the past few years in the wake of the pandemic. On behalf of myself and our patients: Thank you.