A story is brewing in southwestern Pennsylvania. There, in a little town called Aliquippa, PA, nurses, aides and other frontline caregivers have been denied weeks in backpay, after their employer--Commonwealth Medical Center--filed for bankruptcy and had its license revoked by the state. The incident resulted in a sweeping layoff of all but a few of the hospital's approximately 200 employees.
Oddly enough, Commonwealth Medical and its financier, the Chicago-based Bridge Finance Group, decided to compensate hospital executives, totaling $150,000 in wages.
They did not, however, compensate the nearly 200 frontline caregivers at the hospital, some of who are owed up to $5,000 in unpaid wages. Virtually all of the hospital's workers are still waiting to be paid for their work in December.
Debbie May, a nurse with 11 years at Commonwealth told the Beaver County Times, "It's outrageous that we wouldn't receive our paychecks while the executives got their money. We're the ones who provided care for the patients, and we're the ones who got stuffed right before Christmas."
Last Friday, Commonwealth caregivers traveled all the way to Chicago to speak directly to staff at Bridge Finance's headquarters. SEIU Illinois and Indiana members, as well as former Republic Windows workers joined the rally. (Recall that in mid-December, Republic Windows workers held a sit-in at their former plant, and thanks to the support of then President-elect Obama and growing public outcry, won back wages due them when their plant closed from Bank of America.)
Stay tuned: SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania has filed a complaint on behalf of workers that will be heard at a bankruptcy court hearing on Tuesday. Join with us in supporting the frontline caregivers of Commonwealth by signing this petition: http://seiuaction.org/campaign/commonwealth
Links to coverage:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09003/939336-57.stm
Beaver County Times, Editorial: http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2009/01/08/opinion/editorials/doc4963b2188ab83694611608.txt
Pittsburgh Channel 4 (NBC) on msnbc.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28800322/
