Union informational picketing at St. E's Boardman Hospital

BOARDMAN — About 20 people representing Service Employees International Union conducted informational picketing today at Mercy Health’s St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital.

While SEIU does not represent any employees at the hospital, Anthony Caldwell, SEIU District 1199 representative, said the purpose of the picketing there and at other Mercy Health sites around the state is to alert nonunion employees to what they can expect in the future.

Based on SEIU negotiations at Springfield Regional Medical Center and Mercy McAuley Center nursing home in Urbana, Caldwell said Mercy Health is trying to standardize benefits and demanding that workers forfeit their extended illness banks and give back their paid time off.

A spokeswoman for Mercy Health Boardman said, however, Community Mercy Health Partners has been negotiating in good faith to reach consensus on a collective-bargaining agreement.