PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Service Employees International Union 1199NE said that caregivers at Women and Infants Hospital voted yes to authorize an unfair labor practice informational picket on Nov. 12. The union said nearly 1,500 workers voted yes, which constituted “99.9% of workers who participated” in the vote. The alleged unfair labor practices included “intimidating, threatening, and in the most extreme cases – engaging in impermissive physical acts against union members and staff in retaliation for their testimony against the hospital in a federal unfair labor practice trial before an Administrative Law Judge of the National Labor Relations Board.” The union added that at previous contract bargaining sessions, hospital management “offered proposals that will erode job standards, trample union rights, and fail to solve the staffing crisis.” “Staffing has been a constant issue especially on the second and third shift which generally is very difficult to fill,” union member Doreen Engeian said. “This administration’s solution has been to mandate the worker on the off going shift to cover the vacancy which translates into a 16 hour shift.” ABC 6 has reached out to Women and Infants Hospital for a statement and is awaiting a response. Categories: News, Providence, Rhode Island