Marlborough Hospital employees vote to unionize

Courtesy | UMass Memorial Health Care. UMass Memorial-Marlborough Hospital workers have voted to unionize.

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UMass Memorial-Marlborough Hospital employees totaling 220 will unionize after a vote Tuesday and Wednesday, according to statement issued Wednesday by the State Healthcare and Research Employees Union.

The move to unionize passed by a vote of 137 to 44. The employees are certified nursing assistants; radiology technologists; mental health counselors; secretaries; billers and schedulers; and other support staff, SHARE said.

The Marlborough workers will be part of their own chapter of SHARE, which represents 2,700 employees at the UMass Memorial Medical Center campuses in Worcester, as well as 500 state employees at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. SHARE is an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

“We voted to form SHARE so we can have a voice in decisions that affect us,” Tunde Akindele, a mental health counselor who has worked at Marlborough Hospital for 20 years, said in Wednesday’s statement.

Nurses at Marlborough Hospital are already unionized under the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

In a statement, the hospital’s President and CEO Steve Roach said the hospital engaged in the process to determine if the formation of a union was in the hospital workers’ best interest.

“At UMass Memorial – Marlborough Hospital, we value all of our caregivers for the great work they do taking care of our patients,” he said. “We respect their decision, and we will work collaboratively with the members of SHARE and our caregivers to continue to make Marlborough Hospital a great place to care for patients and a great place for patients to get care.”