Up to 300 Concord Hospital workers will walk off the job today to protest an extortionate increase in parking fees costing them up to $2,600 a year.
Workers including psychologists, scientists, threatre technicians, kitchen staff, cleaners, security guards and others will walk out between 1pm and 2pm.
“At a time when cost of living pressures are hitting hard, charging staff $2,600 to simply turn up at work is outrageous and morally bankrupt,” said HSU Secretary Gerard Hayes.
“Concord Hospital staff, like health workers around the nation, worked tirelessly to keep the community safe during the Covid-19 pandemic. Plunging them into financial distress by slapping them with extortionate parking fees is no way to say thanks.
“Hospital executives need to take a hard look in the mirror, stop treating staff as cash cows and reconsider these excessive rates.”
Concord Hospital staff parking has been free since the Covid-19 pandemic but from February workers with parking permits will be charged $27.20 per week. This will cost them about $1,300 a year if they park five days a week, 48 weeks a year.
Staff who do not have a parking permit because they are still on a years-long waitlist to get one will be charged $11 a day, costing them about $2,600 a year.
Before Covid-19, parking was $12 a week for workers with permits, meaning fees are more than doubling from only a few years ago.
HSU members are calling on the hospital to maintain free parking for staff or, at the very least, not increase fees above the pre-Covid rate.
