FOR IMMEDATE RELEASE: May 20, 2025 | CONTACT: Amelia Abromaitis, 484-363-9783

Butler Patient Services are Suffering from Replacement Workforce, Describes Frontline Union Workers

20 May 2025

Providence - As Butler Hospital workers continue day six of their unfair labor practice strike, reports are emerging about the negative impact replacement workers are having on the quality of services provided to Butler patients, specifically wait times of up to an hour and a half at the call center, lack of language interpretation and the diminished quality of food provided to patients.

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Butler’s Behavioral Health Call Intake is the gateway to the hospital - we help connect all patients with the services they need, including those experiencing a mental health crisis. Typically wait times are seconds and at most, a few minutes. The fact that those calling in to Butler have to wait upwards of one hour is absolutely unacceptable. Every minute counts when someone is reaching out for help during a crisis - that's why enough trained, experienced staff are critical to fill this need."

- Dan Camp, Behavioral Health Call Intake

Multiple workers have described trying to call into Butler's call center only to be put on hold for an hour or more since the strike began. Here, Andrea DeLuca and Tony Woods, two longtime Butler Call Center employees, describe their experience:

In addition, Butler Hospital's Call Center normally offers 24/7 language interpretation through a contracted service called Propio but one Butler union worker, Cesilia Contreras-Munoz, describes a prospective Spanish-speaking patient being hung up on when they called the call center.

Finally, Dietary Worker, Lori Russo, describes a recent patient reporting the quality of food has declined since the onset of the strike. Butler Hospital has already admitted to spending $3.2 million on replacement workers, funding that could be invested directly in wage boosts for long time staff.

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District 1199 SEIU New England represents 29,000 health care and service workers in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Southeastern Massachusetts. In Rhode Island, 1199 SEIU NE represents almost 5,000 members. 1199 SEIU NE is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) – a union of over 2 million members across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. SEIU has been a national leader in pushing the growing Fight for $15 and a Union movement.