Open letter to Danbury and New Milford Hospital Healthcare Workers

My sisters and brothers of Danbury and New Milford Hospitals, This Friday is a historic day at your hospitals.  You will decide if you want to join your nurses and techs in gaining a voice in your workplace.  Think about that. YOU will decide.  Has that ever been given that chance before? Well, you have not been "given" it now either..........you have TAKEN it. You have taken it by standing together and being strong.  You have shown courage and solidarity against hospitals willing to use healthcare dollars on  union busters to spread lies and fear but that has not worked.  It didn't work when we organized 4 years ago at Backus Hospital in Norwich either.  We stood together and now we negotiate wages, benefits and working conditions.  They can no longer make changes or take away without negotiating.  Are things perfect today at Backus? No. But today, we speak freely and advocate for ourselves, our coworkers, our patients, our  community, and our hospital without fear. If you decide to join us on Friday, you will join 10,000 AFT healthcare workers in Connecticut,  29,000 AFT Connecticut members, and 1.6 million AFT national members in having a voice. You may ask, why do I care? I care because I have worked in a non union hospital and seen the changes after we  unionized. I care because have seen how "not for profit" hospitals have changed. I remember when "not for profit" didn't need quotations. I have seen how they have become corporations, not hospitals, who who treat their patients  like a product and their employees like an expense. I have seen the executives receive bonuses larger than some worker's annual income.  I have seen them spend hundreds of thousands of healthcare dollars on thugs and  embezzlers to work against their own employees.  It is your decision, for maybe the first time in your working lives, YOUR decision. Better than hope, I promise that never again will you stand alone. In Solidarity, John John Brady Backus Federation of Nurses, Retired President Executive Vice President Elect  AFT Connecticut