President Dian Palmer and CCH Workers Demand Union Staffing, Bilingual Pay and More

During the Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, testimony from Local 73 President Dian Palmer and Dental Assistant Araceli Rivera called on CCH to do what’s right for workers. As members of the board listened in, Palmer’s read testimony highlighted the County’s unjust approach to union workers as they continue to utilize agency work at higher costs.

“CCH is spending more than $60 million on the three largest temporary staffing agencies. These non-bargaining unit hires are often being paid more than represented employees to do the same work,” said Palmer. “These agency workers are coming from across the country, which fails to put economic revenue back into our communities.”

Rivera, via written testimony, then called on the board to compensate workers who must delegate time and resources to translate details to Spanish-speaking patients who may not otherwise understand the vital medical information they need.

“We work in a high [Spanish-speaking] community, with 90% of our patients speaking Spanish only […] I’ve been getting interrupted from my daily tasks to accommodate and be able to communicate with patients,” said Rivera. “Bilingual pay is definitely important due to the patients having little knowledge of home care and what treatments are needed.”

SEIU Local 73 will continue to put pressure on CCH to right the ship and compensate workers for their diligence and loyalty to the County’s patients.