AFSCME - Workers To Hold 36-Hour Vigil At Chicago’s Resurrection Health Care

Workers To Hold 36-Hour Vigil At Chicago’s Resurrection Health Care

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September 24, 2009

By Doug Cunningham

In Chicago, AFSCME Council 31 is helping workers hold a 36-hour vigil at Resurrection Health Care. It's an effort to persuade Resurrection to end what AFSCME says are harsh anti-union tactics. The workers, joined by clergy and community supporters, are calling on management at Resurrection Health Care to follow new Catholic guidelines for a fair union organizing process. AFSCME says Resurrection is using a union avoidance campaign that has included firing ten pro-union workers. This summer the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a document called "Respecting The Just Rights of Workers" that lays down guiding principles for creating a fair process for workers in Catholic hospitals to decide whether to form unions. AFSCME Council 31's Robert Malgieri says workers in Chicago are calling on Resurrection Health Care to follow those principles.

[Malgieri]: "The employees have been asking for this for years, and now that it is mainstream Catholic thinking - because it was released by the Bishops’ Conference - we're hoping that Resurrection will follow their guidance and do what is right."

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