Employees at Howard Brown Health notified management late Thursday night that they plan to strike later this month in what would be the second strike at the health center in a year.
On Oct. 13, 96% of union members voted in favor of the strike. Union members contend that Howard Brown management has repeatedly excused labor law violations at the health care network’s 11 clinics.
The two-day strike is planned for Nov. 14 and 15, with picket lines at Howard Brown clinics at 4025 N. Sheridan Road, 3501 N. Halsted St. and 641 W. 63rd St. Up to 370 members of Howard Brown Health Workers United, including nurse practitioners and retail workers at Brown Elephant resale shops, could participate.
Registered nurses at Howard Brown have a separate union, though both unions work with the Illinois Nurses Association.
“I care about this organization, I care about my co-workers and I care about my patients,” said diabetes care coordinator Bridget Gordon, a member of the bargaining team. “If I get angry during negotiations, it’s because I hate seeing what is being done to this agency.”
[ Howard Brown Health workers could strike for the second time this year following union vote ]
The union delivered a package proposal with all outstanding contract requests Thursday night, Gordon said. Members are prepared to call off the strike if the proposal is approved.
Howard Brown administrators were “disappointed” to receive strike notice the day before a federal mediator was set to get involved, vice president of external relations Katie Metos said in a statement to the Tribune.
“We believe that we have brought thoughtful proposals to the bargaining table that address the key priorities and concerns that our staff have expressed,” Howard Brown Health CEO David Ernesto Munar said in the statement.
A federally qualified health center that receives federal money to support low-income patients, Howard Brown Health specializes in treating LGBTQ patients and people living with HIV.
Many Howard Brown employees are patients themselves, Gordon said. Gordon herself has gone to Howard Brown clinics both for diabetes treatment and for gender-affirming care. She believes Howard Brown has saved her life.
“HBH claims to be rooted in LGBTQ+ liberation but over the years HBH has lost credibility in the LGBTQ+ community due to the mismanagement from executive leadership,” Josseline Almengor, a health educator at the clinic, said in a Friday news release.
Contract negotiations have been going on for over a year. Management had agreed to about 80% of union demands by the time the strike vote took place, the Tribune previously reported.
More than 400 workers went on strike for three days in January after 64 employees — including 61 union members — were laid off.
[ Hundreds of Howard Brown Health workers strike amid layoff ]
After a July ruling from the National Labor Relations Board, Howard Brown offered to reinstate the 61 laid-off union employees, with back pay.
Twenty-five workers agreed to return, but receiving back pay has been slow, Gordon said.
Union members hope the strike will lead to more equity in working conditions between Howard Brown workers on the North and South sides, as well as improving patient outcomes, Illinois Nurses Association organizer Ronnie Peterson said.
Bargaining committee member Claire Gilbertsen told the Tribune last month that some workers at Howard Brown clinics on the South Side are paid up to $5,000 less annually than their North Side counterparts.
Howard Brown management proposed a contract that would include a 5.4% increase in average base wages in the first year, with a 3.25% wage increase the next year.
Management also proposed a $19.23 hourly minimum wage, a 17% raise for some retail employees.
Documents provided to the Tribune by Howard Brown Health propose higher pay for evenings and weekends, as well as for bilingual employees and team leads, but do not specify a number.
Full-time employees earning less than $58,500 a year currently have Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO insurance, for which Howard Brown pays 96% of the cost. Management has proposed group health insurance for part-time employees, plus two weeks off after recovery from gender-affirming surgeries.
Management is also proposing 45-day notice of any layoffs, and the use of third-party mediators for any contract enforcement issues.
As negotiations intensified, union members noted that the time allotted for each patient appointment had been cut. Some health care providers have been expected to see double their typical load of patients in recent weeks, Peterson said.
At the bargaining table, management denies that appointment times have been shortened, Gordon said.
“Management has responded to our concerns about workplace conditions,” Gordon said, “by either dismissing it out of hand … or they say, ‘OK, we’ll look into it,” and there’s never any follow up on it.”
Bargaining between the union and Howard Brown management will continue leading up to the strike. Union members met Friday with a federal mediator, who will attend the next session Tuesday.
Union members are still raising strike funds and will host pickets outside at least one Brown Elephant store leading up to the strike. An informational picket this weekend outside of Brown Elephant Andersonville is expected to yield further announcements related to the strike.