What do they want? A living wage. When do they want it? Last year.

A group of about 50 Tobey Hospital employees took to the gates of the hospital last Friday to protest the wage freezes and benefit reductions the hospital’s parent company, Southcoast Health System, may be implementing in the next round of contracts for its service, technical, and clerical workers.

The employees are unionized and represented by 1199 Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers East.

Becky Willis has been a Tobey employee for 16 years. She said she started in the hospital kitchen, working for $8 or $9 per hour, and is currently a lab secretary, making less than $15 per hour. Most of her wage increases over the years have come in 30 cent increments. She said this makes it difficult to take care of her four person family.

“We can’t even afford a home -- we live with my parents,” Willis said. “But my husband has a full-time job, so we don’t make the cut [for public assistance].”

Jeff Hall, union spokesman for 1199 Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers East, said it is “insulting” that the hospital will not raise the wages for its workers, when “they are pulling in $86 million within Southcoast Health.”

“The wages don’t keep up with the competition,” said Hall, who belongs to 1199 Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers East. “[Southcoast Health Systems competitor] Steward Health Care has a minimum start rate of $13.38 per hour. Some Tobey workers are making as little as $10.50 per hour.”

Minimum wage in Massachusetts is currently $9 per hour.

Hall said 40 percent of the workers who would be affected by the contract make less than $15 per hour, which he said places them in the untenable position of choosing to pay rent, buy necessities for their children, or buy groceries. Most of the employees also qualify for health care, housing, and other public assistance programs, based on their income levels.

Hall said the workers did not have any plans to leave for higher-paying jobs, because of the loyalty they feel towards the community they serve, but feel “invisible with the out-of-touch proposals from management.”

“[The employees] want to continue serving patients, but there is a high level of frustration,” Hall said. “There is a growing sense that executives at Southcoast may simply be out of touch with the realities their workers are facing.”

Peter Cohenno, public information officer for Southcoasts Health Systems, said that the company values its employees and that it supports their right to picket, “as long as our patients, guests and employees’ access to care and to our hospital is not adversely impacted.”

“We offer a competitive wage and comprehensive benefits program, plus superior working conditions,” Cohenno said.

Southcoast Health Systems also owns St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, and Charlton Hospital in Fall River, both of which have seen wage freezes since last year, according to Willis.

Willis said she and other Tobey employees hope to see fair wages, and a better contract for their hours, but “anything so that all of our employees got an increase would be appreciated.”

“Southcoast is constantly taking stuff away from us,” Willis said. “We don’t know what is next.”

As of Tuesday, Hall said there has been "no meaningful progress." The union's bargaining committee will next meet with Southcoast Health Systems on July 16. Until the talks are concluded, Hall said he does not know whether an agreed-upon contract will take effect at a future date, or retroactively.