New Haven Independent

As the hospital seeks to move forward from a calamitous break-down of a once-peaceful process governing the organizing drive of 1,800 of its blue-collar workers, administrators have been setting up meetings with aldermen to explain their side of things, legislators said.

In an email issued Friday, Goldfield requested that aldermen decline invitations to those meetings in favor of a public hearing.

At that hearing, aldermen plan to publicly grill YNHH CEO/President Marna Borgstrom on the events leading up to Dec. 13, when a neutral arbitrator ruled the hospital had broken federal law and a labor agreement by holding captive audience meetings.

The hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 29 at 6 p.m., at a special meeting of the aldermanic Community Development Committee in City Hall.

Goldfield’s short letter reads:

“Dear Colleagues,

“I am encouraging you not to attend the small group meetings which Yale New Haven Hospital has been scheduling with us. At this point I believe anything the Hospital administration wants to say to us should be said in public, and subject to public scrutiny, which is why I called for a hearing.

“Contrary to what the Hospital may fear, I want to give them a fair chance to explain their behavior. That explanation has to be given, not in dark recesses, but in full sunlight.”

Aldermen at Monday’s aldermanic Black and Hispanic Caucus meeting received the missive with mixed reviews.

Visiting East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar said he’d attended one of the meetings before he learned of Goldfield’s request. The session, attended by three other alders (no, not held in captive audience), was “designed entirely” to transmit “their version of the truth” surrounding the union fight.

Caucus President and Hill Alderman Jorge Perez said he would “likely” cancel his Wednesday meeting with Borgstrom in light of Goldfield’s request. In any case, such private meetings should not obviate the need for the hospital to be publicly grilled, he said: “I still expect them to come to the public meeting.”

“How do you know you’re being told the same thing if you’re not all together? People have the right to hear what is being said,” opined Newhallville Alderwoman Katrina Jones.

Hill Alderwoman Andrea Jackson-Brooks downplayed the meetings as “regularly scheduled” appointments with hospital administration, instead of a spin campaign. She announced she would boycott the the public hearing, deeming it “inappropriate for us to get involved.”

“I really have a problem with it being sent to [Community Development] when the chairman has made it clear he’s biased.”

That chairman, Ed Mattison, across the way, defended the need for a hearing: “It feels to me that what they’re doing is a classic unwillingness to admit error. They should be very forthright in saying what happened,” “” in a public forum.

Hospital spokesman Vin Petrini was quoted in the Register saying Monday night that he had no comment yet on the aldermanic discussion.