ECMC Nurses Continue Fight for Paid Family Leave

Nearly a year after voting to opt-in to New York’s nation-leading Paid Family Leave (PFL) program, Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) nurses are still fighting for hospital management to implement the benefit. New York’s PFL program, signed into law in 2016 and enacted on January 1, 2018, provides eligible workers with up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave to care for a new child or family member with a serious health condition, or to assist when a family member is on overseas military deployment.  

While the law that implemented the benefit makes it mandatory for private employers, the same courtesy is not extended to public sector workers, who must petition their employer for the benefit and then vote to opt-in. At ECMC, this process has proven more difficult than the law lays out: while nurses voted overwhelmingly to opt-in to the program, hospital management has drawn out the process, leaving nurses without PFL.  

Voting to Opt-in

Last May, NYSNA nurses at ECMC successfully got hospital management to agree to offer PFL. After winning this agreement from management, nurses then rounded throughout the hospital to inform members about the program and their ability to vote to opt-in. Nurses spoke about the critical need for the program, and the peace of mind it would offer to their colleagues looking to start new families or caring for elderly loved ones. After a weeks-long campaign to educate members, the vast majority of union nurses voted to opt-in to the PFL program.

A Broken Promise

Despite their successful vote, nurses at ECMC are still without PFL. While management initially agreed to provide the benefit, ECMC has since gone back on their commitment, citing financial uncertainty stemming from the cuts to federal healthcare funding and the cost associated with administering the benefit. Though not unlawful, management’s broken commitment is a serious affront to public sector nurses who voted for PFL and work hard to care for Western New York’s most vulnerable patients, day in and day out.  

But nurses are not giving up! Earlier this year, they launched an email campaign demanding that management follow through on their commitment and provide PFL. More than 550 NYSNA nurses participated in the action, sending nearly 1,700 emails to hospital administrators. And just a few weeks ago, nurses brought their demands to a labor-management meeting, once again demanding that ECMC provide the benefit they committed to one year ago.  

While the fight for PFL continues at ECMC, nurses are hopeful that management will follow through on their commitment and grant nurses' access to this life-changing program. Keep up the great work, ECMC nurses, and don’t settle for anything less than the PFL that public sector nurses deserve!