Former U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly Continues To Ignore Pleas From Connecticut Workers & Labor Leaders To Resign From Reservoir Care & Rehabilitation Facility Parent Company Sun Healthcare

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 5, 2009 -- (Hartford, Connecticut) – While hundreds of Connecticut workers have continued their ongoing labor protest in front of the Sun Healthcare's Reservoir Care & Rehabilitation Facility In West Hartford, Connecticut, former U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly has refused requests by laborer leaders and workers to resign from the Sun Healthcare Board of Directors or help her former constituents to receive reasonable cost-of-living wage and benefit increases since their labor contract expired on August 31, 2009.

Connecticut healthcare workers from the Sun Healthcare Reservoir Care & Rehabilitation facility, West Hartford, CT, have held daily protests in response to early failed labor negotiations that requested reasonable wage increases and longevity awards for employees. Approximately 65 healthcare workers, consisting of nursing assistants, technicians and administrative assistants, are employed at the 75-bed nursing facility and members of the Connecticut Laborers’ Local 1224.

“For weeks now, we have been seeking U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly’s assistance. In light of what she represented and accomplished while as a U.S. Congresswoman and now head of the National Committee To Preserve Social Security And Medicare, we initially requested that she resign from the Sun Healthcare board of directors immediately to show her support for our workers and to stop this labor exploitation. However, former U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly has ignored our requests to resign or even help these workers. Her inaction is proof of her overall ineffective work while in Congress and her out-of-touch relationship with voters. Kennelly should also consider stepping down as head of the National Committee To Preserve Social Security And Medicare. Because if she’s ineffective on the local level, I’m not sure how we can trust her on a national level,” said Charles LeConche, business manager, Connecticut Laborers’ District Council. “This is not the case of an ailing corporation hurting during these tough economic times. Sun Healthcare is doing very well these days and growing through acquisitions and also by exploiting its workers. All we are asking for are small dollar increases per year in wages and longevity awards after an employee has been there for 10, 15 or 20 years. So far, Sun Healthcare’s management has flatly refused these reasonable requests. Imagine, after working for one employer for 20 years, they would not even appreciate your efforts by rewarding you with a $1,000 bonus.”

Sun Healthcare’s Reservoir Care & Rehabilitation Center is located at One Emily Way, West Hartford, CT, across from the MDC Reservoir on Farmington Avenue in West Hartford, CT, phone (860) 561-7022. Kennelly, who is currently president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (www.ncpssm.org), based in Washington, DC, represented Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District, which included the Hartford, CT area, from 1982-1999. She also served as the secretary of state of Connecticut from 1979-1982.

According to its Web site, Sun Healthcare Group, Inc., a healthcare provider with executive offices in Irvine, CA, is headed by Richard K. Matros, chairman & CEO, L. Bryan Shaul, CFO and William Mathies, president & COO. Employing over 29,000 people with sales over $1.8 billion, Sun Healthcare Group, Inc. owns SunBridge Healthcare Corporation and other affiliated companies that operate healthcare centers in many states. In addition, the Sun Healthcare Group family of companies provides therapy through SunDance Rehabilitation Corporation, hospice services through SolAmor Hospice and medical staffing through CareerStaff Unlimited, Inc. For more information, visit www.sunh.com.

The Connecticut Laborers’ District Council represents approximately 7,500 members employed in the construction industry and other building and trade fields throughout the state. The Laborers’ International Union, founded in 1903 largely by immigrant workers, includes more than 800,000 members who work in construction and hazardous materials remediation, as well as in healthcare, the U.S. Postal Service and other public service sectors of the economy. Laborers’ Local 1224, Hartford, represents healthcare and municipal workers throughout Connecticut For more information, call 860.296.8697 or visit www.CTLPL.com.

More information can be found online at http://www.CTLPL.com

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