Members of AFSCME Local 1324 are campaigning for improvements in health & safety for months, by shedding light on the dramatic increase to employee injuries, and proposing solutions. This week, they took their demand for a new, “Man-down alarm system” to the DMH Commission. Check out all the media coverage here!
More stories: AFSCME wants new alarm system at Fulton State Hospital
Mental hospital workers urge state to buy new alarm system
Hospital sees more staff injuries
Worker involvement and pressure make the difference
August
Members host a health & safety forum, for all interested Fulton Hospital employees to identify problems and generate a list of solutions. They schedule monthly labor/management meetings with facility administrators to address the concerns and make their proposals.
September
Members demand and receive more input and another direct care employee slot on the facility’s health & safety committee, and a policy that ensures emergency personnel attend to injured employees on the wards.
October
Members demand that the windows on the nurses stations be tinted, to maintain a level of privacy, and ultimately, safety. Nurses stations are tinted within weeks.
November
After members’ demands for a new “man-down alarm system” go unanswered, Local 1324 President, Rocky Loucks, obtains an estimate from several companies who manufacture “man-down alarm systems.” He and his fellow member activists make the case for the system to facility administrators, and to Office of Administration.
When administrators still fail to act, activists representing local 1324 including Carol Butcher, Michelle Sanders, Charles Sanders, Leella Kemp, and Rocky Loucks take their demands to the Mental Health Commission- and the press. In her testimony to the commission, Sister Sanders demanded that Local 1324 receive a decision to implement the alarm system before the next labor/management meeting on November 20th.
Stay updated on what happens next at Local 1324 and join the “Fulton State Hospital AFSCME Safety Network” facebook group.
