Day two of the 3-day Groden Center strike features a dozen General Assembly visitors
"On Monday, we're going back to work, and we're going to see if this boss has understood that after shutting this program down for three days - they can't do it without us..."
Behavioral Specialists, who are members of SEIU 1199NE began day two of their three day strike at 8 am on Thursday. The workers have been negotiating a new contract since June 2024. They are calling for a living wage to aid recruitment, retention, better staffing, and an overall safer environment for students and staff alike. Thursday was the second day of a three-day strike.
Yesterday, workers discovered they had been locked out of their workplace with their electronic badges deactivated and work emails locked.
Around noon, the striking workers were visited by General Assembly elected officials, including Senator Tiara Mack (Democrat, District 6, Providence) and Representative Rebecca Kislak (Democrat, District 4, Providence). The Groden Center is located in their district.
The following is from the speaker program. Jocelyn is a worker at the Groden Center:
Jocelyn: I have been with Groden for just under three years, and I've been in the field for the last 10. I'm not getting rich doing this work, and neither is anyone else in this field. I stay in the field because I love the job, and I love the kids we support. However, I don't know how much longer I can do this.
Since April of 2023, I've been working nearly 70 hours a week to make ends meet. Our job isn't easy, and it's not for everyone. Not everyone can come in and form the connections and relationships that we have with these students. The field has an extremely high turnover rate, causing many open positions to be filled with untrained agency staff who make more money than us and do less work. Not to mention the impact of a revolving door and changing faces in the lives of our schedule oriented students.
This leads to faster burnout and higher frustrations for us seasoned staff. We have been trying to negotiate a fair contract for just about three months now with little movement on Groden's end in our favor. We aren't asking for much. We all just want and need a livable wage. We would love to continue the work we do, but none of us will be able to stay much longer if we don't start getting properly compensated for all of our hard work.
Alex Moore (Political Director at SEIU 1199): I want to recognize the legislators who turned out today in solidarity with all of you workers as well as some other allies. We have our brothers and sisters from the Working Families Party and the National Education Association, and quite a few legislators showed up today as well.
State Representative Rebecca Kislak: It's so nice to see you, but we should get you a raise so you can go back inside and also pay your bills. You are a critical workforce for our kids in Rhode Island. You are doing important work every day supporting our kids. You deserve to be able to pay your bills and go home to take care of your family. Everyone, our whole critical care workforce, should be paid a living wage. That's why I'm so happy to be supporting you.
State Senator Tiara Mack: Hey, y'all, and thanks for being a part of the neighborhood. I was thankful when I was here yesterday that I got to speak to folks like Kim, who's been in the office for 30 years now and who loves what she does, but she can't pay the bills with just love. I was thankful yesterday to sit down and talk to folks like Jocelyn, who has a child at home and has to make the sacrifice of working 30 hours on the weekend so she can get her bills paid - on top of doing a job that she loves - missing out on time with her family. I got to talk to Melissa, who has been here for 20 years and who loves what she does. She comes down from Portsmouth every day to do the work that is critical for the young people in this building.
I heard from so many groups yesterday how much you love the children that you work with, how much you love what you do - but you're not supported by the new administration that's here. Year after year, you're being told that it's okay not to be paid enough to be able to afford your rent. It's okay to have to work an additional 30 hours. I'm so proud of you guys for standing up and saying that a living wage is just and deserved for every person on this staff.
I hope more people hear stories from the folks that I got to sit down with. I didn't get to chat with everyone yesterday, but I hope more people know about the real and hard work that y'all do every single day as you love and support the children who come to the center. The bruises that you get, the bites that you get, but also the small stories of successes that y'all take part in every day for Rhode Islanders that many people don't even know exist.
Thank you for your work, and thank you for fighting to make sure that workers like y'all get a living wage, not just here at the Groden Center but across Rhode Island. You've got a team of supporters at the State House who know that y'all's wages mean that we are supporting every worker. So thank you, thank you, thank you. And keep up the good fight.
SEIU 1199 Vice President Jesse Martin: I want to thank every representative, senator, and all of our community allies who have come out to support us in this fight for justice. It's a fight for justice, isn't it? We, as 1199ers, care for people. We care for people when our society says the care isn't worth paying a living wage. We fight every day in nursing homes, clinics, hospitals, and the Groden Center to bring dignity to people.
We talked yesterday a little bit, and I heard stories of people's passion and commitment. You get to see someone grow in their education and provide skills to people on how to cope with the world. That's a beautiful thing. That should be treated with the same respect and economic rewards as anyone else, as anyone building a bridge, building a school, or anywhere else in our society. You are no different in that work.
The Groden Center takes public money to do this care. It is our money that pays for the care of these individuals in their education and pays your salary and benefits. We deserve, as a society, to make sure our money goes to the right place. It shouldn't just disappear into six-figure salaries for corporate executives who don't have to struggle and work more than two or three hours a day, who don't have to deal with the hard work of allowing individuals who struggle with the world and how to connect with it to be able to live a life of dignity.
That is mismanagement of our public dollars, and our union is committed to making systemic changes here at the Groden Center and everywhere else to make sure that our public dollars aren't balanced on the backs of workers or to subject the people we care for to less than what they deserve.
On Monday, we're going back to work, and we're going to see if this boss has understood that after shutting this program down for three days - they can't do it without us. They [need to] have their priorities in line, and if they don't, we have to be ready to do this again and to do it for longer. We're going to fight one day longer than the boss. Does that make sense?
Here’s the video:
Other General Assembly elected officials who showed up to lend their support included Senators Valerie Lawson (Democrat, District 14, East Providence, Pawtucket), Jake Bissaillon (Democrat, District 1, Providence), Jonathan Acosta (Democrat, District 16, Central Falls), Melissa Murray (Democrat, District 24, North Smithfield, Woonsocket), and Robert Britto (Democrat, District 18, East Providence); Representatives Grace Diaz (Democrat, District 11, Providence), Scott Slater (Democrat, District 10, Providence), Brandon Potter (Democrat, District 16, Cranston), David Morales (Democrat, District 7, Providence), Arthur Handy (Democrat, District 18, Cranston), and David Morales (Democrat, District 7, Providence).
Also attending was Democratic Primary winner Jenni Furtado, who has no challenger in November's General Eelection for District 64 in East Providence.
