Whittier Street Health Center Employees Protest Abrupt Firing

ROXBURY, MA — It started with about a dozen employees of Whittier Street Health Center in Roxbury taking to the street outside the health center Friday, and then another dozen showed up, and then more. They were protesting a day after they say some 20 employees were abruptly fired were fired Thursday, ahead of a vote to unionize.

They stood wearing purple shirts and holding signs. And then the chants started.

One person sang into a bull horn "Everywhere we go people want to know who we are, so we tell them: We are the union. Mighty mighty Union."

Brenna Cyr, a licences social worker and the domestic violence coordinator said she was the only one assigned to work with domestic violence issues and when she found out she was fired Thursday it didn't feel good for multiple reasons.

"It sucks getting fired," she told the crow, "but what's worse is what's going to happen to [my patients]?"

She said at least one woman was turned away today because there was no one to see her.

And that was the theme of the morning protest.

Workers said they'd had problems with the management for a while and that was part of the reason they were considering joining with 1199, the largest union for healthcare workers. In the middle of seeing patients, providers at Whittier, which sees mostly low income patients from Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan and Dorchester providers found out their badges were deactivated.

According to union organizers patients were left waiting in rooms and caregivers were sent home told that because of funding issues they were being let go. Some said they were unable to even convey to patients that they were not coming back.

Protesters say they want the CEO of the center, Frederica Williams, to come to the table to discuss another solution. Others said they demanded to be reinstated. But either way the workers who still had jobs planned to continue the vote to unionize.

A number of politicians were also in attendance Thursday morning including City Councilor Ed Flyn.

Watch below.

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Photos by Jenna Fisher/Patch