HOSPITALS Unions negotiate for new contracts

Teamsters have scheduled a rally today in support of St. Elizabeth employees.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It's contract time again for two local hospital labor unions, both of which were embroiled in bitter strikes three years ago.
Talks have been going on since April 6 for Teamsters Local 377, which represents 968 service and maintenance employees at St. Elizabeth Health Center.
And at Forum Health Northside Medical Center, the Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association, a unit of the Ohio Nurses Association, has been negotiating for a new agreement since May 6. The YGDNA represents about 740 registered nurses.
Tina Creighton, a spokeswoman for St. Elizabeth and its parent company, Humility of Mary Health Partners, said Teamsters have agreed to extend workers' three-year contract until midnight June 7. The agreement was originally set to expire Monday.
Talks
Contract talks were scheduled Friday, she said, and three more sessions are planned between now and the contract deadline. Teamster officials could not be reached for comment.
Local 377 had planned what it was calling a "rally for justice" in support of the St. Elizabeth workers at 1 p.m. today at the Teamsters hall, 1223 Teamster Drive in Youngstown.
Roger Insprucker, president of the Ohio Conference of Teamsters, and the Rev. Lonnie A. Simon, pastor emeritus of New Bethel Baptist Church in Youngstown, will be among the speakers.
Carrie Calvert, director of marketing and public relations for the Ohio Nurses Association in Columbus, declined to comment on the progress of talks for the Northside nurses. Forum officials did not return calls requesting comment.
2001 strike
YGDNA walked out of Northside, Forum Health Tod Children's Hospital in Youngstown and several other Forum medical facilities in May 2001, in a strike that lasted 81 days. They reached a settlement July 21.
Mandatory overtime was a major sticking point for the nurses at that time.
A strike by Teamsters-represented workers at St. Elizabeth's began less than two weeks later, on May 1, 2001, and ended May 25.
Forum reached a contract settlement last month with about 1,500 of its employees, members of Service Employees International Union, District 1199. The union represents maintenance workers, licensed practical nurses, housekeeping and laundry workers, pharmacists, physical therapists and technicians at Northside and Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren.
vinarsky@vindy.com