As part of a continuing campaign to bring area hospitals back to the bargaining table, about 60 hospital workers and supporters held a candlelight vigil Wednesday night at Fairview Southdale Hospital.

Organized by Service Employees International Union Local 113, the vigil included workers in their hospital scrubs who came outside on break to join in sign-waving, chanting, and singing.

More than 3,300 Twin Cities hospital employees are working without a contract after five hospital systems, including Fairview, HealthEast, North Memorial, Methodist, and Children's, declared bargaining at an impasse. Local 113 has filed unfair labor practice charges against the hospitals with the National Labor Relations Board and is urging management to return to the bargaining table.

"It hurts a lot to know they don't want to pay ball with us," said Ed Dziuk, for 11 years a patient transport worker at Fairview Southdale.

"Fairview is not paying us enough and they're charging us an exorbitant amount for insurance," Dziuk said, explaining why he and other workers oppose the contract offer.

To inform and mobilize members, Local 113 has undertaken a petition campaign to reject the contract. "Members are still signing the 'reject the offer' petition," reported Local 113 President Julie Schnell. "I think we're at 60 percent overall."

The vigil included workers in their hospital scrubs who came outside on break to join in sign-waving, chanting, and singing. Labor Review photo

The old contract expired Feb. 28 and remains in effect, but the employers now have stopped deducting union dues from employee paychecks, Schnell said. The employers have tried unsuccessfully to block SEIU members and staff from collecting dues in person, she added.

The vigil was one of a series of actions for hospital workers to stand up in public and call for continued negotiations.

"We've been working with the members and the negotiating team to plan other actions," Schnell said. "It's very energizing for our members."

Every day the standoff continues, Schnell said, "makes our members more frustrated and angry at the employer? It feels like our members are getting more militant the longer this goes on. This is not sitting well with people."

"They are not giving us affordable insurance," said Virginia Epperson, who has worked for 11 years in environmental services at Fairview Southdale.

Until she joined her new husband's health plan, she said, "it was like I was working for insurance." Two years ago, she said, $200 of her $500 paycheck went to health insurance.

Steve Share edits the Labor Review, the official publication of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council. Visit the CLUC website, www.minneapolisunions.org

Two Fairview Southdale employees who joined the vigil: Virginia Epperson, environmental services worker, and Ed Dziuk, patient transport worker. Labor Review photo