Workers gathered outside of Murray Center in Centralia on Friday for an informational picket, with signs and voices ready to raise awareness of the safety issues they face and calling for action by the state and administration to improve working conditions at the center. Local union president Martin Dickinson explained the hazards workers face daily.
“A lot of those safety issues entail extreme staff shortages to insufficient training to no protective measures,” Dickinson said. “For staffing, we house up to 270 individuals with mild to profound intellectual disabilities. A lot of them are highly behavioral. They’re good kids and we love them, but we’re getting hurt, and our injuries have been increasing over the months. A lot of these injuries entail back to neck to knee to shoulder injuries. We want people, the state, and our administration to be aware that our safety matters too.”
Picketers want an end to short staffing, guaranteed lunch breaks, and prevention of staff injuries and workplace violence.
