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Prayer Vigil at Ascension
On Mar 12, 2010 I was privileged to be a part of a Prayer Vigil/Demonstration in front of Ascension Health Corporate Offices in St Louis, MO. We were joined by James P Hoffa, and representation from Jobs With Justice, Workers Rights Board organization, several St Louis area Unions and Politicians from Missouri and the St Louis Area. Also on Mar 18 there was a Prayer Vigil held at several Ascension Hospitals across America including Grand Blanc, MI; Detroit, MI; Buffalo, NY; Tucson, AZ; Kansas City, MO; and Washington DC. This Vigil was held to show Ascension how committed we are to the beliefs that the Ascension Organization was founded on and seems to have lost site of in recent years. Ascension is the largest Catholic Healthcare organization in America with multiple Hospitals and Health Care Facilities.
This was done in support of our Ascension Genesys Technical Teamster Union Employees who are currently in negotiations for their contract that expired Feb. 18, 2010. A 30 day extension was agreed upon that expired Mar. 18 which Ascension refused to extend further. Ascension has lost site of it's vision based on the Catholic Teachings. They are treating the workers poorly on a day to day basis acting more like a dictatorship than a christian organization. There has been a complete breakdown in communication and collaboration between the Administration and the Employees. It was due, in part, to this collaborative atmosphere in past years that Ascension Genesys has been named among the top 5% for delivering safe patient care several years in a row. This administration seems to feel the way to manage is with a strong arm and a "You will do it this way or there's the door" attitude. Employees feel they can no longer trust the administration. They hand down new rules and enforce them in a very demeaning manner with a complete lack of respect, while at the same time giving lip service to how they care for the employees and want their loyalty to the organization. They continually peck away at the lower level employees while adding to the Upper Exec level. Adding new Upper Executives that we hear of once when they are added and then never hear from again.
The employees of Ascension Genesys for many years have provided a very caring atmosphere for their patients. This was also fostered in a very caring attitude from the Administration. It made you proud to be a part of the organization. The employees are still providing that caring atmosphere to the patients but do not get any of that same caring from the Administration of Genesys. The Administration frequently sends out mandates that are an attempt to pit one worker against another. They are letting employees go that have shown great loyalty and pride in working for the organization and then hire new employees, frequently from another organization that is Ascension owned, that have lower pay and benefits. They have outsourced many positions to other organizations.
They want to completely gut the Technical Union contract Freezing their pension plan, that has been in effect for over 25 years, which is no longer available for new hires; increasing premiums on Health Care and Dental and Vision coverages as well as increasing the co-pays for those coverages and completely take away Health Care for retirees. They also want to degrade the LPNs by taking away their title of LPN, at work, which is state licensed. They also want to change the wording in the contract in a manner that changes the work environment by changing "rules" we have lived by for many years. As an example if you call in "too late" you get a black mark on your record for calling in late And a black mark on your record for not obeying the Code of Conduct they have mandated.
This was done in support of our Ascension Genesys Technical Teamster Union Employees who are currently in negotiations for their contract that expired Feb. 18, 2010. A 30 day extension was agreed upon that expired Mar. 18 which Ascension refused to extend further. Ascension has lost site of it's vision based on the Catholic Teachings. They are treating the workers poorly on a day to day basis acting more like a dictatorship than a christian organization. There has been a complete breakdown in communication and collaboration between the Administration and the Employees. It was due, in part, to this collaborative atmosphere in past years that Ascension Genesys has been named among the top 5% for delivering safe patient care several years in a row. This administration seems to feel the way to manage is with a strong arm and a "You will do it this way or there's the door" attitude. Employees feel they can no longer trust the administration. They hand down new rules and enforce them in a very demeaning manner with a complete lack of respect, while at the same time giving lip service to how they care for the employees and want their loyalty to the organization. They continually peck away at the lower level employees while adding to the Upper Exec level. Adding new Upper Executives that we hear of once when they are added and then never hear from again.
The employees of Ascension Genesys for many years have provided a very caring atmosphere for their patients. This was also fostered in a very caring attitude from the Administration. It made you proud to be a part of the organization. The employees are still providing that caring atmosphere to the patients but do not get any of that same caring from the Administration of Genesys. The Administration frequently sends out mandates that are an attempt to pit one worker against another. They are letting employees go that have shown great loyalty and pride in working for the organization and then hire new employees, frequently from another organization that is Ascension owned, that have lower pay and benefits. They have outsourced many positions to other organizations.
They want to completely gut the Technical Union contract Freezing their pension plan, that has been in effect for over 25 years, which is no longer available for new hires; increasing premiums on Health Care and Dental and Vision coverages as well as increasing the co-pays for those coverages and completely take away Health Care for retirees. They also want to degrade the LPNs by taking away their title of LPN, at work, which is state licensed. They also want to change the wording in the contract in a manner that changes the work environment by changing "rules" we have lived by for many years. As an example if you call in "too late" you get a black mark on your record for calling in late And a black mark on your record for not obeying the Code of Conduct they have mandated.
This is the way many of the large corporations in America feel is acceptable to treat their employees. Add to the Upper Executive Levels in numbers and with outrageous Pay levels and Outrageous Bonuses while whittling away at the lower level employees by cutting the numbers of people that provide the service and/or decreasing their pay and benefits.
The way to stop this take over of Corporate America is to stick together as a group of American Citizens committed to the welfare of all the Workers. We must stand in Solidarity to stop those that believe the only things that matter are the Corporate bottom line and the greed that is so prevalent at the upper levels of American Corporations. These beliefs have warped the way America functions economically to benefit the people that hold the most wealth at the expense of those less fortunate. All people deserve to make a decent living.
The way to stop this take over of Corporate America is to stick together as a group of American Citizens committed to the welfare of all the Workers. We must stand in Solidarity to stop those that believe the only things that matter are the Corporate bottom line and the greed that is so prevalent at the upper levels of American Corporations. These beliefs have warped the way America functions economically to benefit the people that hold the most wealth at the expense of those less fortunate. All people deserve to make a decent living.
Please click on the Praying Hands
to the view a video of our
Prayer Vigil held across America on Mar. 18, 2010
(allow time to load and then view the whole video)
Click on the following icon to aide us in our quest to have Ascension return to managing their holdings in a Catholic & Christian manner.
If you would like more information on
Teamsters Local 332 in Flint, MI
please click on the icon below.
If you would like more information on the
The Jobs With Justice Organization or the Workers Rights Board
please click on the icons below.
to the view a video of our
Prayer Vigil held across America on Mar. 18, 2010
(allow time to load and then view the whole video)
Click on the following icon to aide us in our quest to have Ascension return to managing their holdings in a Catholic & Christian manner.
If you would like more information on
Teamsters Local 332 in Flint, MI
please click on the icon below.
If you would like more information on the
The Jobs With Justice Organization or the Workers Rights Board
please click on the icons below.
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Copyright . William Salbenblatt. All rights reserved.
