Fenway Health care workers voted last week to ratify their first-ever union contract, securing major pay increases, especially for the community health center’s lowest-paid workers, as well as lower-cost healthcare and on-the-job labor protections.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved together with this contract” said Freddy Mercado, a medical assistant at Fenway Health. “This contract is a real investment in our work and wellbeing. It means I won’t have to choose between putting food on the table and affording the medications that keep me alive. This will make a real difference for me and my family.”
The nearly 300 care workers who are part of the bargaining unit at Fenway Health voted in October 2023 to join 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the largest and fastest-growing healthcare workers union in the state and nation.
“This agreement demonstrates Fenway Health’s commitment to creating a supportive and respectful workplace culture that values staff and helps ensure our continued fiscal health,” said Jordina Shanks, Fenway Health’s CEO. “We are proud of the good faith demonstrated throughout the bargaining process and believe this contract lays the groundwork for a stronger, more unified organization moving forward.”
Care workers celebrated the ratification of a contract they say will help retain and recruit the staff needed to care for Fenway Health’s patients, who are in the crosshairs of the federal government’s assault on LGBTQIA+ rights.
— from a Fenway Health press release
More: fenwayhealth.org
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