Butler Hospital Workers Go On Strike to Fix a Healthcare Crisis

On May 15th, hundreds of hospital workers and their supporters marched through heavy rain to kick off the first day of SEIU 1199NE’s strike at Butler Hospital. Hospital management erected fences to cut off any shelter alongside the sidewalk, but the crowd remained in high spirits, chanting as a chorus of cars honked in support.

Butler is Rhode Island’s only free-standing, dedicated psychiatric hospital. Workers take pride in their important role and care deeply for their patients. They do not take the decision to strike lightly. Yet after months of negotiating, Care New England, which manages Butler, refused to address unsafe working conditions and poverty wages. The strike was authorized by a ninety-nine percent vote of union members, who include nurses, doctors, food service workers, and support staff.

Care New England chronically understaffs Butler, depriving patients of quality care and endangering caregivers. From 2022 to 2024, patient assaults on staff surged by forty-one percent. In just the first three months of 2025, staff endured 111 additional assaults.

Management’s corner-cutting policies result in nurses and mental health workers receiving bruises, bites, or worse on the job. One nurse recounted how her colleague suffered whiplash after being punched in the face by a patient. Another described a patient yanking a glucose monitor off a caregiver’s skin, leaving the caregiver injured and without vital medical equipment. Ninety-five percent of Butler caregivers say Care New England is not doing enough to keep them safe, according to a survey by SEIU 1199NE.

Butler’s workers are also severely underpaid. Many of them earn under $20 an hour while caring for Rhode Island’s most acute patients. Nearly sixty percent of Butler’s full-time employees report struggling to afford food or housing.

With such poor working conditions and compensation, Butler does not retain staff. And as overworked staff leave, conditions worsen for those who remain, leading to more turnover and instability. Some units have been running so thin that, as one nurse put it, “new staff are training new staff.”

Workers and patients deserve better, but Care New England prioritizes the bosses. The company’s CEO, Dr. James Fanale, collected a salary of $2.2 million in 2023. Other executives and administrators are likewise overpaid. Mary Marron, President and COO of Butler Hospital, made $576,146. Ghulam Surti, Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer, made $659,484. None of these managers performs the hands-on work of caring for patients.

While executives are lavishly compensated, those providing direct patient care have gone years without meaningful raises. Management’s last contract offer amounts to an average raise of just $1.11 per hour — hardly adequate in the face of soaring inflation.

Care New England is prolonging the strike by refusing to address workers’ concerns. With fewer staff and a disrupted care network, new psychiatric patients are diverted to other hospitals. Emergency departments, which are ill-equipped for mental health care, may become overwhelmed.

Care New England could end the crisis now by investing adequately in its workforce. Instead, it’s spending millions on strikebreakers. Nearly $2 million were wasted to fly in scab temps and security — funds that could have been spent hiring and retaining qualified, permanent staff.

Every day without a resolution is another day of understaffed units, delays for vulnerable people in need of care, and increased risk for frontline workers. Rhode Island deserves better!

How You Can Help

Join the picket line: Walk with the union at Butler Hospital’s entrance on Blackstone Boulevard. Workers are there seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Your presence boosts their morale and sends a message that the public is watching.

Donate food and supplies: Strikes are exhausting. Everyone on the picket line would rather be serving their patients. Local allies have been donating coffee, water, snacks, ponchos, and coffee. Any contribution helps sustain the workers and shows that the community has their backs.

Spread the word: Talk to your friends, family, and local officials about why Butler workers are on strike. Share posts on social media. Write letters to the editor. Counter the hospital administration’s false narratives. We need everyone to know what’s at stake!

Build solidarity at your own workplace: This isn’t just about one hospital. Profit-seeking managers damage healthcare quality across the board. If you or someone you know is facing unsafe staffing, low wages, or unfair treatment on the job, organize!

Stand with Butler Hospital workers, and let’s build a healthcare system that puts people over profits!