WE CARE AT OPTUM
When Optum, a multi-national corporation with hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue, took over CareMount Medical in July 2022, patients and staff were hopeful they would put their multi-billion dollar resources into improving community healthcare. Instead, Optum has shown it is primarily concerned with its bottom line. Staff have reported that Optum has, among other things:
Instituted a 15-minute policy, under which providers are directed to limit their visits with patients to 15 minutes, leaving providers insufficient time during the work day to document patient visits;
Required nurses to perform non-nursing duties such as registering patients, which may increase wait times and delay treatment; and
Taken inadequate care to ensure safe conditions for workers and patients.
THE OPTUM BREWSTER STORY
Optum fought tooth and nail to prevent its workers from unionizing. After a tied election at Brewster in April 2023, a Hearing Officer for the National Labor Relations Board found that during the election campaign, Optum had:
threatened employees if they voted for the union
threatened to terminate an employee for engaging activities in support of the union
threatened employees with loss of employment if they went on strike
implied to employees it would be futile for them to select the union
discriminated against union supporters
solicited employees to sign an anti-union petition
interrogated employees about their views of the Union
created the impression that Optum was surveilling employees’ union activities
solicited employee’s grievances; and
promised to remedy employees’ grievances if they voted against the union
As a result of Optum’s coercive conduct, the Hearing Officer determined that the election had not been free and fair election and ordered a new election.
In the re-run election, Brewster employees voted overwhelmingly to unionize with 1199SEIU.
JOIN BARGAINING
JOIN BARGAINING
Wednesday, July 24
In-Person Bargaining takes place at Optum Radiology - Carmel/Brewster
185 NY-312, Brewster
Workers at Optum in Brewster were the first to join 1199SEIU, so they could collectively bargain their wages and benefits and have a voice in their working conditions. Every day, more requests are coming to 1199 for union representation.
Optum staff in Brewster, Carmel, Camarda Putnam Hospital, Fishkill (Westage & Merritt), Hudson Valley (Courtland), Jefferson Valley, Katonah, Mt Kisco 360, Yorktown have already joined the union.
1199SEIU has proposed negotiating one contract for all institutions, and Optum has refused.