This ad ran on April 4 and April 7, 2008 in the Boston Herald and on April 8, 2008 in Boston Now.

"I am a former skilled maintenance employee of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. During my job interview, I was asked if I had ever been in a union. The director explained BIDMC is a non-union hospital. He made it obvious then and most days after that he didn't want employees who would think of joining together as a union. He told me BIDMC takes care of their own.

Eventually, my co-workers and I got tired of being mistreated, and decided we needed a voice at work to improve our jobs and make the hospital a better place for patients. When our managers found out, they hit us with a campaign of intimidation and misinformation. They had private one-on-one meetings to tell us what would happen if we supported unionizing. They said if we voted to unionize they’d replace us with outside contractors. In my case, my director reminded me that my children wouldn't have insurance if I lost my job.

"I was proud of my hospital -- until they treated their own workers as enemies."

I left the Beth Israel Deaconess, because no one needs to be treated like that. Now, I am happy to be a member of 1199SEIU at another hospital, where workers can count on being treated with dignity and respect. I'm no longer told that I'm a worker at will.

It bothers me to know that my friends at BIDMC still don't have the protection they deserve. I am working to make sure that what was done to me and my co-workers never happens again to any hospital worker. My experience is too common. That's why Massachusetts hospital workers are calling for Free and Fair union elections.

Hospital executives should agree to a code of conduct guaranteeing that workers will be Free to make up our own minds, in a Fair secret ballot vote. That way, management won't treat hospital workers as enemies in our own hospitals. It's a better way for our patients, and it's the only decent way to treat people."

- ANTHONY PATTI, Former Beth Israel Deaconess Employee
(Sponsored by 1199SEIU and the Area Trades Council)

• View clip from the Boston Herald (PDF)
• View clip from Boston Now (PDF)