A countdown clock ticked down in front of the State House on Thursday afternoon — 20 days. That’s how many days union workers and activists estimate are left before the Rhode Island General Assembly passes its fiscal 2026 budget.
“TIME IS NOW. TIME IS NOW,” the crowd of around 150 people chanted as they called on lawmakers to pass a bill to increase income taxes on top earners in Rhode Island to raise revenue to prop up hospitals, plug a $32.6 million deficit at the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and fund programs like Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Head Start that help the state’s poorest residents.
At least one RIPTA driver was among the crowd, which included over 30 striking Butler Hospital workers plus members of RI AFL-CIO, Climate Action Rhode Island, National Education Association of Rhode Island, Economic Progress Institute, Revenue for Rhode Islanders Coalition, RI Working Families Party, SEIU-1199, Indivisible RI and Reclaim RI.
Companion bills introduced in February by Rep. Karen Alzate, a Pawtucket Democrat, and Sen. Melissa Murray, a Woonsocket Democrat, call for a 3% surtax on the top 1% of earners — those who make more than $625,000 a year, based on 2025, inflation-adjusted numbers.
Alzate’s bill received its initial hearing before the House Committee on Finance on May 6 where it was held for further study by the panel. Murray’s bill was scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance Thursday evening.
“The wealthy have been benefiting from state and federal tax cuts for decades,” Murray told the crowd. “But at whose expense? Ours.”
The proposal would affect about 5,700 state income tax filers and generate an extra $190 million in annual revenue for the state, according to the Economic Progress Institute, which backs the legislation.
“This is not crazy — it’s reasonable, it’s fair, and it’s long overdue,” Nina Harrison, policy director for the Economic Progress Institute, told the crowd.
“It’s the end of the session — this is rally time,” AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley said. “This is when we make our final argument that this is about building a Rhode Island economy from the worker up and giving the state the resources they need to make sure we have functioning systems that everyday people rely on.”
Crowley, who sits on RIPTA’s board of directors, said if Rhode Island’s wealthiest residents paid more in taxes, then the statewide bus agency could solve its financial woes. Funding could also go toward the state’s health care system, he said.
“Which would allow workers like the striking Butler workers to have a living wage,” he said.
Negotiations resume, but no progress made
Butler Hospital unionized workers represented by SEIU 1199E returned to the State House for at least the third time in their now two-week-long strike, rallying for better working conditions and wages at the Providence psychiatric hospital.
A negotiator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) — a federal agency that helps smooth out labor disputes — sat down Wednesday and Thursday to revive talks between the striking Butler workers and their employer, Care New England. There were no immediate updates on the status of the talks from union officials as of Thursday evening.
Dawn Williams, a Butler registered nurse, union delegate, member of the bargaining committee explained in a statement Wednesday evening while the day’s talks failed to find consensus.
“Unfortunately, management gave us a set of proposals with lower wages, higher healthcare costs, less on retirement and no movement on our workplace violence committee,” Williams said. “We are more than ready to return to work and resume caring for our patients — but we should never have to choose between our safety, our livelihoods, and the profession we love.”
Mary E. Marran, Butler’s president and COO, issued a statement Thursday.
“While the Hospital remains committed to productive dialogue, we are concerned by the union’s apparent lack of advanced preparation for Wednesday’s session, and its continued focus on internal union matters such as changes to new hire orientation, rather than on issues central to our employees’ core priorities—such as wages, retirement benefits, and healthcare,” Marran wrote.
Marran wrote that the hospital presented a “scaled-back economic proposal” on Wednesday because of conditions established during the last negotiating session on May 7, when it gave its “Last, Best, and Final Offer,” with any subsequent offers shaped by “the effects of the strike, which has affected patients, staff, the community, and the Hospital itself.”
Marran added that the wages are still higher than those in previous contracts, and pointed to the hospital’s negotiation website, butlerinfoforyou.org.
Care New England spokesperson Raina C. Smith did not supply an exact dollar amount when asked Thursday how much the hospital has spent on temporary labor thus far. She simply replied, “Millions.”
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
