Promoting the importance of raising wages to attract and keep employees.
HARTFORD - Dozens of workers from the Institute of Living spent time Wednesday afternoon connecting with members of the public, fellow healthcare workers and speaking with the local media on their struggles to secure a fair contract. The mental health employees want wages they can survive on and helps increase both retention and recruitment so they can address their staffing shortage.
In addition to speaking with people walking by, members got a chance to connect with the local media which helped spread our message. Check out some of the great coverage below:
However, the last negation session ended with Hartford Healthcare walking out as members asked questions and pushed for necessary raises. Raises many of the workers, including Marcus Perez a psychiatric technician, say they need to survive. "Many workers are making less than $20 and we can't live on that, we need to $25 an hour in 2025," Perez said.
Keith Kendall shared that he shows up to work every single day because it's a calling and he knows he can make a difference. However, he said the skilled workers necessary to treat those suffering mental health crisis are often undervalued for the work they do, work that helps many during their deepest and darkest moments. Kendall went on to share how he recently reconnected with a former patient who is now a healthcare student herself working to get certified to work in the field, all because of the impact Kendall had on her when she came to IOL for treatment.
Hartford Healthcare did respond to media inquires by saying they "look forward to returning to negotiations and finding a solution that works for all parties", however, no date for the next negotiation has been set so far.