Federally-funded premium pandemic pay and safe staffing levels: Those were the requests of a rotating crew of picketing employees outside Tobey Hospital on Friday, many of whom were spending their lunch breaks sharing the message.

The members of SEIU 1199 — staff from across the hospital’s departments including housekeeping, radiology, pharmacy, respiratory therapy, maintenance, secretaries, and certified nurse’s assistants — are asking Southcoast officials to advocate for staff to receive premium pay to recognize their work throughout the pandemic. 

Premium pay is one of the approved uses of funds given by the federal government to the states through the American Rescue Plan, explained SEIU Vice-President Jerry Fishbein. Union members are requesting one-time bonuses of between $1,000 and $3,000, based on how much members worked during the pandemic.

A majority of members — 85 percent — signed a letter to Southcoast leadership asking for the organization’s support, but that request was denied. A statement from Southcoast is included at the end of this story.

“This is the worst year we’ve ever had,” said Aida Sargo, who has worked in environmental services and housekeeping at Tobey Hospital for a decade.

Sargo said her department is understaffed, in part because the base pay for cleaners is roughly minimum wage — another worker said prospective hires could make more money working at a big box store.

The union is also requesting pay increases for positions like housekeeping and dietary aides so those departments can be staffed at safe levels.

“We need all the help we can get,” Sargo said. She added that the workers’ requests were simple: “All we’re asking them to do is support us and thank us.”

Wanda Johnson, a lab clerk, said Tobey’s staff have been working hard throughout the pandemic and risking their own health by coming into contact with the disease — especially before it was understood.

“We’ve done everything they asked us,” Johnson said. “We had people get covid early. They still came back to work… We keep giving to you. It’s time you give some back to us.”

Several people said the stress of working through covid cut into their personal lives: Instead of coming home and hugging their kids, they had to first carefully clean up and shower in an effort to keep their families safe. Some slept in the garage, and many didn’t see grandchildren for months.

Early in the pandemic, Johnson said, staff didn’t always have access to the protective equipment they needed. 

Dave DeCosta, who works in radiology, said he saw six people in his department get covid throughout the pandemic. And he saw many sick patients.

“Coming to work every day and seeing people get sick and die — it’s heart-rending,” DeCosta said.

Carmen Fitzgerald, a phlebotomist, said the hospital system called its workers heroes throughout the pandemic, even sending around photographers to document their work.

“Still, in the end, this is what we get: a big, fat no,” Fitzgerald said.

DeCosta also noted that while workers had been called heroes, that wasn’t how they were being treated. 

“The money’s there, and it won’t cost anybody anything,” he said.

Dave Sargo doesn’t work at Tobey, but his wife, Aida — quoted earlier — does. He joined the protest in solidarity.

“This is long overdue,” Sargo said. “I can’t understand why [Southcoast officials] don’t support this. It’s at no cost to them.”

Sargo said the hospital’s staff have been working hard — sometimes doing the work of four people. 

“For them not to support premium pay is a shame,” Sargo said.

Fishbein said that those who want to support the workers’ requests for premium pay should call their state representative or state senator.

Statement from Shawn Badgley, Southcoast’s Public Information Officer:

“Support services and clinical staff at Tobey – at all Southcoast hospitals and facilities – drive so many aspects of patient care for our not-for-profit community health system, and their outstanding work, day in and day out, is highly valued and widely appreciated. Long preceding the pandemic, let alone during it, their efforts on behalf of the community have inspired and sustained patients and colleagues alike. 

Even before Southcoast saw our first case of COVID-19, we were in close contact with state and federal officials to ensure that our employees would have access to every available resource in what was shaping up to be the fight of our collective professional lives. Those discussions are ongoing as we see rising COVID-19 hospitalizations while striving to vaccinate as many people as possible, all amid a reported operating loss in the tens of millions of dollars due to the pandemic’s impacts. 

Southcoast is always advocating for our entire family of 7,500 employees so that they can continue caring for this region’s patients with passion, energy and confidence. We face the same staffing challenges that countless organizations in health care and other sectors do right now, and have strongly prioritized recruitment, retention and recognition payments to rise above them. 

For nearly a year and a half, we have been working to secure crucial resources and keep officials informed about the needs we have now, as well as those we anticipate in the coming months. Additional funding that will support all patients and all staff are, of course, at the top of that list, because the existential threats to public health – and to Southcoast itself and other community health systems like ours – brought on by this terrible pandemic, are still very real.”