Senator Kennedy pushing hospital-union talks

The Boston Globe reports:

Senator Edward M. Kennedy and other top Massachusetts Democrats, including Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, are urging hospital officials to talk with a powerful labor union, a move that could ultimately result in broad union representation at Boston's largest hospitals.


Hospital and business leaders, fearing that unionization could force increases in wages, benefits, and spending on inefficient practices, have resisted negotiating with the union, 1199 SEIU. At a private meeting arranged and attended by Kennedy June 23, 1199 SEIU president Dennis Rivera told hospital executives the union could help them win more funding for government Medicaid and Medicare programs.

Despite Rivera's upbeat message, the executives were not enthusiastic, according to people who attended the session at the Omni Parker House .

``If the SEIU is successful in organizing our Boston teaching hospitals, that will only lead to higher costs at a time when we're asking hospitals to be more efficient," said Rick Lord, chief executive of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a trade group. ``Any additional costs will eventually get passed onto whoever is paying the bill, the employee or the consumer."

Senator Kennedy wants artificially high medical costs.No wonder people are leaving the Boston area.