Dozens of Howard Brown Clinic employees and supporters rally and strike outside the Howard Brown Clinic at 641 W. 63rd St., Nov. 14, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Workers at Howard Brown Health clinics and Brown Elephant retail stores went on strike Tuesday across Chicago, citing unfair labor practices as contentious contract negotiations draw to a close.
Howard Brown Health Workers United members gathered to picket outside Howard Brown’s Sheridan, Halsted and 63rd Street clinics, bolstered by honks from passing delivery drivers. The strike is expected to last two days.
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“Our staff are not able to pay our own bills,” said Louis Spraggins, partner services coordinator for Howard Brown and a member of the bargaining committee. “… We need to be able to take care of ourselves to take care of y’all.”
Clinics will remain open during the strike, and all patients with appointments will be seen. Registered nurses at Howard Brown finalized a separate three-year contract in September 2022. Both unions work with the Illinois Nurses Association.
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“When our community members seek our care, they are relying on us to meet their vital healthcare needs,” Katie Metos, vice president of external relations, said in a Tuesday statement to the Tribune. “We are committed to being a reliable pillar of care for our communities.”
Striking workers continue to call out disinvestment in Howard Brown’s locations on the South Side, which includes three clinics to the North Side’s eight. A new $53 million North Side clinic opened at 3501 N. Halsted St. in September, focusing on dentistry and primary care.
On the North Side, “You could toss a rock over your shoulder and hit another medical provider,” Spraggins said.
Meanwhile, South Side clinics are infested with rats and bugs, Spraggins said.
Some patient appointment times have also been reduced from 40 to 20 minutes. The union says management refuses to formalize 40-minute appointment times in the contract.
“We’re asking for Howard Brown leadership to actually treat us as the valuable employees we are,” Spraggins said.
Dozens of Howard Brown Clinic employees and supporters rally and strike outside the Howard Brown Clinic at 641 W. 63rd St., Nov. 14, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Tuesday’s strike was authorized by 96% of Howard Brown Health Care Workers United members in an October vote. Workers have also been asking Chicago residents to boycott Brown Elephant retail locations since Nov. 4.
Brown Elephant stores have not seen a significant drop in retail sales since the boycott began, said spokesperson Wren O’Kelley.
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Howard Brown management delivered a final contract offer last week. Management and union members had previously agreed on 80% of demands, including changes to dress code, bereavement leave, anti-discrimination policies and seniority in wage increases.
Union members began voting on the final proposal Tuesday. Some employees are prepared to quit if unsatisfied, the union wrote on Instagram on Nov. 6.
“The contract offer commits Howard Brown to invest an additional $5 million for its workforce over two years,” Howard Brown CEO David Ernesto Munar said in a statement Tuesday. “We are stretching our organization while ensuring we can still meet our obligations.”
State Sen. Robert Peters, a Chicago Democrat, also spoke in support of striking workers Tuesday. Peters, also a Howard Brown patient, called for workers to receive the same level of health care as management staff.
“Fundamentally, this is about justice, safety and security,” Peters said.
A federally qualified health center that receives federal money to support low-income patients, Howard Brown Health specializes in treating LGBTQ patients and people living with HIV. Many employees are also patients.
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Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, accused Howard Brown leadership of moving away from the organization’s mission of health care equity.
“Not only are (workers) looking for dignity in their pay, they’re looking for dignity in their patients,” Reiter said.
O’Kelley, the Howard Brown spokesperson, said union members “have pushed us to live up to our roots of LGBTQ+ liberation” at the bargaining table.
Throughout negotiations, contract demands have been highly publicized by both sides. Union members have asked for a $20 minimum wage with 2% annual raises, a 3% cost-of-living adjustment, 60 days’ notice for layoffs and 10-14 weeks of severance pay.
Howard Brown’s final offer includes a $19.23 minimum wage with 1% annual raises, a 2.25% cost-of-living adjustment, 45 days’ notice for layoffs and a month of severance pay.
Management declined requests for guaranteed full-time employment for 25% of Brown Elephant retail workers, two-hour weekly caps on mandatory overtime and union attendance at every HBH board meeting. Management has also declined to discuss protections against layoffs.
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Tiffany Foster-Mitchell, a lead medical assistant at Howard Brown’s South Side clinic on 47th Street and a member of the bargaining committee, said the health care system treats South Side clinics as “a stepchild or a foster child” of the larger system.
Bargaining committee member Claire Gilbertsen had told the Tribune that some South Side clinic employees earn $5,000 less annually than their North Side counterparts.
This week’s strike is the second at Howard Brown Health in a year. More than 400 workers walked off the job in January to protest a series of 64 layoffs.
Following a series of successful labor complaints, 25 of 61 laid-off union workers were reinstated earlier this year.
Howard Brown Health employees begin 2-day strike
