In Full-Page Advertisement, Catholic Health Workers Take Concerns About Staffing Crisis Directly to Community

For Immediate Release: October 6, 2021

Contact:
Rendy Desamours, 516.406.6637
cwabuffalo@berlinrosen.com
Logan Needle, 561.212-4165 (on-site at picket line)

In Full-Page Advertisement, Catholic Health Workers Take Concerns About Staffing Crisis Directly to the Community

As strike enters sixth day, letter penned in The Buffalo News from CWA union members: “We want you to hear from us directly about what brought us to this breaking point”

BUFFALO, NY -- Running as a full-page advertisement in The Buffalo News this morning, a letter “to our patients and the Buffalo community” written by Mercy Hospital healthcare workers sheds light on the staffing crisis that led them to strike.

“Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we sacrificed our own health and wellbeing to provide critical care to the people of Western New York,” the letter states. “The work was traumatic and exhausting, but we continued doing it every day because we care about our community and our life’s mission is to give you, our patients, the attention and care you deserve. We made the extremely difficult decision to go on strike because Catholic Health made it impossible for us to provide this care and attention.”

Healthcare workers went on to say that, “For nearly 18 months, Catholic Health dragged its feet on responding to our concerns about dangerous understaffing issues, which we first brought to their attention in February of 2020, along with solutions that could be included in a new collective bargaining agreement. But it was only at the very last minute on the morning our contract expired that Catholic Health finally put forward a substantive proposal to address our concerns. While their offer was a step in the right direction, it still failed to guarantee ironclad safe staffing levels, which are fundamental to ensuring high quality patient care and preventing another understaffing crisis in the future.”

The letter also calls to light that in 2016, Catholic Health System agreed to staffing language which management then failed to live up to over the life of the contract. In addition, many other issues,

including wages and health care, remained open in the final hours before contract expiration.

“As healthcare workers, it is our duty and ethical obligation to stand up for our patients. We will not agree to a contract that does not ensure the highest level of care possible,” the letter said.

CWA-represented nurses, technical, service and clerical staff employed by Catholic Health System have been on strike since Friday over a staffing crisis and deteriorating patient care and safety. Workers have been picketing 24-hours a day in front of Mercy Hospital to call on Catholic Health to settle a fair contract that puts patients first.

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