Aliya Schneider is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the 1199 [eleven-ninety-nine] Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers East, will hold an informational picket December 16, at Columbia Memorial Hospital. The picket will take place from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., 1199 SEIU spokesperson Mindy Berman said. Employees do not picket during their work hours. Berman said informational pickets are mostly intended to make a statement to the public. More than 500 workers signed a petition indicating they would be willing to picket, Berman said. Contract negotiations are ongoing, but have not made progress. Workers are concerned about affordable health insurance, wages and the ability to retain staff during a pandemic, Berman said. Hospital management offered no comment on the informational picket or the status of the contract talks. “We are currently in negotiations, and any direct response to a specific union question, comment or concern would most appropriately occur in that forum,” Columbia Memorial Health spokesman Bill Van Slyke said. Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson has shown support for the union workers during the negotiations. “I’m disappointed that it has come to picketing for our health care workers,” he said. “They are not asking for anything they don’t deserve. Heroes deserve fair contracts. Sacrifice deserves compensation.” Note: Johnson is a WGXC on-air volunteer programmer. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.