Subcontracted Dietary Workers with Morrison, Now Fighting for a Fair Contract, Didn’t Receive Hazard Pay or Wage Increases During COVID Pandemic Even as the Cost of Living Goes Up
For Immediate Release
Contact: scott.vogel@seiuhcpa.org
(March 9, 2022, Philadelphia) – Dietary workers at Chestnut Hill and Pottstown Hospitals, who are subcontracted by the company Morrison, braved miserable weather and held two vigils outside their respective hospitals to demand a fair contract.
Essential workers are calling for decent and higher wages as the high cost of living increases. Dietary workers stated that living wages would help address the catastrophic short-staffing crisis which is now forcing dietary workers to pick up overtime shifts just to fill scheduling gaps and make sure patients can be fed on a timely basis.
“After serving as a cook at Chestnut Hill for 21-years I have only called in sick three times. That’s how seriously I take my job,” said Val Artis. “I was terrified I would get COVID. But I knew that my job was important and that I couldn’t let my co-workers and my patients down – especially since we are so short-staffed.”
“None of us dietary workers ever got hazard pay, wage increases, or a bonus while we are working through this pandemic. Not a penny,” said Val Artis.
Val Artis currently earns $16.50 an hour. Fast food restaurants nearby are hiring as much as $18 an hour and provide bonuses just to get job applicants in the door.
Monica Smith, a dietary worker at Pottstown Hospital for 43-years said that morale was the lowest she’s ever witnessed on the job and that workers are utterly exhausted and feel disrespected. “How would this hospital even function without a food service or dietary department to serve patients? They couldn’t. This shows just how essential our dietary workers truly are and a foundation for our whole community. The solution is simple: respect us and pay us what we’re worth!”
Venus Russell, a Unit Secretary at Chestnut Hill and the President of the Union Chapter, spoke about the unity and solidarity among the three separate bargaining units at the hospital, dietary, EVS, and medical staff.
“A fair contract for our dietary staff with Morrison will help create momentum for all of us – and begin to raise standards across the Tower Health system and across the industry,” said Venus Russell.
“The short-staffing crisis is everywhere. Poverty wages are everywhere. Disrespect is everywhere. Structural racism within healthcare is so everywhere that it’s like the air we breathe,” said Venus Russell.
At Chestnut Hill, State Rep. Christopher M. Rabb (District 200-D; Philadelphia County) and Tarik Khan, a frontline nurse running for State Representative in the194th District applauded the dedicated service and grit of the dietary workers in their contract campaign and reiterated that hospitals must invest in our healthcare workforce.
Likewise at Pottstown Hospital, State Rep. Joe Ciresi (District 146; Montgomery County) thanked the dietary and essential workers for their dedication to patients throughout the COVID pandemic and acknowledged their sacrifice.
“We are sending a clear message to subcontractor Morrison with our vigils today that essential workers are tired of being disrespected, constantly feeling exhausted, and still being paid poverty-level wages,” Matt Yarnell, President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. “That’s why we are going to continue to fight for a fair contract that respects them and acknowledges their true value.”
–END–
SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is the state’s largest and fastest-growing union of nurses and healthcare workers, uniting tens of thousands of professional and technical employees, direct care workers, and service employees in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home- and community-based services, and state facilities across the Commonwealth. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members are committed to improving the lives of health care workers and ensuring quality care and healthy communities for all Pennsylvanians.