(Scroll below to see video from our press conference outside Loretto Hospital on Thursday, April 19th, 2018).

Healthcare Workers From Across the City Say Hospital Lobbying Group Fails to Represent Interests of Safety Net Facilities in Communities of Color, Drives Down Wages and Ignores the Needs of the Primarily Female-led Workforce

(April 19th, 2018, Chicago) –Hospital workers from throughout the city called on the Illinois Health & Hospital Association (IHA) to stop paying poverty level wages to its frontline workforce. Many hospital workers make just above the minimum wage, despite the fact that these hospitals are pillars and economic drivers in their communities.

Women of color occupy a large number of the jobs at hospitals in Black and Brown neighborhoods, which also exacerbates the level of poverty in households in these communities. The IHA, which represents the hospital industry, perpetuate this anti-worker approach through its corporate driven agenda that drives down wages and the IHA, through its CEOs, create a culture of fear and intimidation against workers who want to form a union.

Loretto hospital is an example of IHA greed, which recently wanted to starve funding for this facility and drive more funding to already wealthy hospital systems. For too long the IHA has presented itself as a proponent of community healthcare through a valued workforce, when in fact, it been the opposite, workers argue.

WATCH VIDEOS OF OUR PRESS CONFERENCE BELOW

Wellington Thomas: Economy needs good paying jobs; that needs to start here at Loretto

Greg Kelley, President of SEIU HCII: The Illinois Hospital Association Creates a Culture of Fear for Workers Trying to Organize

Isabelle Plaire, Transport Worker, Ingalls Hospital: CEO Makes $1M, but Workers Earn Poverty Wages

Brandon Johnson: Hospital workers are fighting the IHA for dignity & respect!

Commissioner Deborah Simms: “It’s an insult that hospital workers can”t afford health insurance”