With Care New England running in the red and in the midst of acquisition talks with Partners HealthCare, the union representing Kent Hospital nurses and seeking to represent an additional 400 hospital employees took to the picket lines Tuesday in their effort to win the same benefit package for these workers as for nurses.

But there’s more to the effort, said Jack Callaci of the United Nurses and Allied Professionals, as about 40 people carrying signs walked in front of Kent in the hot afternoon sun.

“We want to support the deal with Partners,” he said, “but we can’t do it without knowing we’re secure.” He explained Wednesday that the union couldn’t back the acquisition plan without having a 2-year contact for its employees. Without such protection, he noted, “they [Partners] could take an ax to the benefits program.”

“We want to support you guys [Kent corporate leaders], but we aren’t going to do it blindly,” he said.

Callaci said CNE agreed to a 2-year contract, but their offer included an across-the-board change in healthcare that would cost members thousands of dollars a year.

In addition, Callaci said the union is seeking the same benefits for service and technical employees as those received by the 800 Kent nurses represented by the union. That request consists of the same pay scales (this is not the same pay, but a scale for scheduled raises), medical benefits, pension benefits and percentage pay increases (2 percent raises is on the table).

“They are working side-by-side. They should get the same package,” he said.

He said talks broke off Monday night. As of Wednesday no further talks had been scheduled.

In an email Wednesday CNE spokesman Jim Beardsworth said, “talks will continue.”

In response to an update on talks with Partners, Beardsworth said they are “ongoing” and that he does not see the pickets and union talks as impacting negotiations with Partners.

In a prepared statement released Tuesday, Beardsworth said, “Today’s informational picket by members of the union is extremely disappointing and ignores the reality facing both Kent Hospital and Care New England. It is no secret we have been experiencing significant financial challenges but everyone has been working extremely hard to implement strategic action plans in an effort to increase volume, promote care retention and develop new strategies that will best help us serve the community.”

Beardsworth also responded to the union’s charge that CNE is looking to cut benefits.

“Specific to the contract, the hospital is not asking for a greater contribution for health care benefits. We are seeking increased deductibles when an employee uses facilities outside the system network and a modest premium for continuing to have a spouse on the hospital plan when they have access to health insurance through their own employer. These offerings continue to represent industry standards or better,” he said.

As picketers gathered Tuesday, Callaci said, “I have a great deal of respect for Kent…they’re good people, but there seems to be a problem with the corporate office.” He didn’t expound.

In a statement, Rosemarie A. Desnoyers, RN, President, United Nurses and Allied Professionals Local 5008 said, “Care New England management continues to move in the wrong direction trying to make dedicated employees pay for their bad decisions and mismanagement. Demanding employees do more with less, chronic short staffing and demands for drastic benefit cuts destroy employee morale, which is so important to quality care.”

In an interview Wednesday Callaci said, “Good people are getting pushed out [of CNE]. Obviously things have gone very badly for Care New England for some time.”

In August CNE reported a third quarter loss of $6.5 million, which Beardsworth called at the time “a significant improvement of $19.5 million from just three months ago.”

He noted last month that every month since February CNE has seen progressive improvement in operating income.

“While we are pleased to be heading in the right direction, we know there is much more work to do for further improvement. We will continue to aggressively assess and implement all opportunities across CNE that serve to strengthen our financial stability while continuing to provide exceptional care to the community,” he said.