By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
For the first time in their years-long battle over their insolvent pension plan, retirees from the former St. Joseph Hospital took their case directly to Bishop Thomas Tobin.
The group staged a picket outside a church in East Greenwich where the leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence arrived to say Mass on Saint Patrick’s Day.
A small group of retirees stood quietly outside Our Lady of Mercy Church, holding signs, some displaying photos of Bishop Thomas Tobin, with slogans including, “Hail Mary, full of grace, our pension is a disgrace,” and “Where’s our moral leader? Bishop Tobin: Honor your commitment.”
Bishop Tobin walked out of the church to the parish school across the street to greet school children, then returned a few minutes before the scheduled start of the Mass. Both times, he ignored the small group of pensioners.
The hospital was sold to a private group and closed, leaving more than 2,700 retirees and beneficiaries from St. Joseph and Our Lady of Fatima Hospitals.
A number of entities reached settlements, but the Diocese of Providence has yet to agree on a settlement with the retirees, after the $95 million pension fund was declared insolvent, said Lynn Blais, president of the United Nurses and Allied Professionals union.
“When the sales went though and the mergers went through, we were given guarantees that the pension was funded, and funded appropriately, and it was secure for all of the retirees. And we’re learning that was not true,” said Blais.
The retirees and the diocese are in litigation and currently in mediation, Blais said.
After Bishop Tobin walked past the group outside the East Greenwich church, Blais said, “That’s basically what we get, a smile and nod and we’ll pray for you. We need more than prayers.”
.@ThomasJTobin1 walks past St. Joseph Hospital retirees who’ve come to confront him for the first time, over their unfunded pensions; saying the @dioprovidence is the only one not to reach a settlement in their ongoing case. -SK #WPRO pic.twitter.com/rNIsSa7agK
— Steve Klamkin (@NewsProvidence) March 17, 2022
