Natchaug Hospital Unions United, AFT Local 5052

"Fighting for Change at Natchaug Hospital"

Our registered nurse members have launched an ad campaign to bring greater public attention to unresolved workplace safety issues.

Comments on First Ad Addressing Unsafe Conditions at Natchaug Hospital

Leaders of local union representing registered nurses at the facility made the following public remarks on the launch of new video spot scheduled for cable broadcast and social media:

"Chronic understaffing is creating an unsafe environment for our clients and ourselves," said Natchaug Hospital Unions United President Klari Kostas.

Randi Weingarten at a Massachusetts high school

Summer is upon us, and parents, children and teachers are winding down from what has been an exhausting and fully operational school year—the first since the devastating pandemic. The long-lasting impact of COVID-19 has affected our students’ and families’ well-being and ignited the politics surrounding public schools. All signs point to the coming school year unfolding with the same sound and fury, and if extremist culture warriors have their way, being even more divisive and stressful.

In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.

Comments on Natchaug Hospital’s OSHA Citations Over Safety Violations During the Pandemic

State and local union leaders and activists made the following public remarks regarding the federal worksite agency’s months-long investigation at the behavioral health facility:

“Hartford HealthCare (HHC)’s executives should be responsible for ensuring its nurses and health professionals are properly equipped to provide safe patient care,” said AFT Connecticut President John Brady, RN.

This week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) confirmed what we have long known to be true: Natchaug Hospital and Hartford HealthCare are failing to protect frontline workers during the pandemic.

After our members took a stand against unsafe conditions, OSHA issued Natchaug three citations for unlawfully:

Randi Weingarten and NYC teacher Tamara Simpson

Attacks on public education in America by extremists and culture-war peddling politicians have reached new heights (“lows” may be more apt), but they are not new. The difference today is that the attacks are intended not just to undermine public education but to destroy it.

"Fighting for Change at Natchaug Hospital"

Comments on First Ad Addressing Unsafe Conditions at Natchaug Hospital

Smears vs. solutions

What unions do

Comments on Natchaug Hospital’s OSHA Citations Over Safety Violations During the Pandemic

OSHA: Natchaug Failed to Protect Us During the Pandemic

In defense of public education