On Friday night, registered nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester,
Mass. voted to authorize a one-day strike, in an attempt to send a message to
the hospital?s administration: the nurses are serious in their fight for issues
such as safe staffing levels.
This will be the first nurses strike at St Vincent since 2000. The nurses are
required to give the hospital notice ten days before a strike.
The current strike is over the nurses? contract with the hospital which expired
in December 2009 and has been extended by agreement of both sides to April 19.
Marlena Pellegrino, co-chairman of the union?s negotiating team, said that the
next meeting with the hospital is scheduled for April 13.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), which represents 740 nurses at the
hospital, voted to give the union leadership authorization to call the one-day
strike during ongoing negotiations with the hospital management.
A federal mediator has been working with both sides in the debate, but nurses
are adamant that they receive contract provisions regarding staffing levels.
Pellegrino issued a statement saying, ?It is not exaggeration to say that every
day, on every shift, patients at this hospital are being placed in jeopardy
because their nurses have too many patients to care for at one time.?
Union officials have not commented on the total number of votes, but report that
the authorization received 82 percent approval after the daylong vote at the
union?s Shrewsbury Street headquarters. ?This should send a strong message to
Vanguard and St. Vincent?s that the St. Vincent nurses are willing to do what it
takes to stand up for the dignity of our profession,? Pellegrino said. She also
added that she hopes the authorization to strike will motivate hospital
management to make a better offer to nurses.
The hospital management, however, released a statement on Friday night saying it
was disappointed in the outcome of the vote.
?While this vote does not guarantee that a strike will occur, it is clear
evidence of the continued scare ?negotiating? tactics employed by the union,?
the hospital said.
The statement said it was ?unfortunate that the MNA did not use this same energy
at the negotiation table to respond to the fair and comprehensive offer? from
the hospital. This offer includes across-the-board increases to the staff nurse
pay scale in 2011 and 2012, as well as a proposal for a resource nurse who will
have no assignment or a limited assignment, and who would be scheduled around
peak times of day to assist other nurses on medical surgical and telemetry
units, where patients are monitored with electronic devices.
While the hospital hoped for Wednesday?s negotiations to be met ?with a
meaningful response to [its] proposal,? it announced that alternative staff
nursing plans have been prepared. ?There are additional negotiating sessions
that are still scheduled, and we will continue to negotiate in the hope a strike
can be averted because it hurts patients,? said hospital spokesman Dennis L.
Irish.
St. Vincent Hospital is owned by Vanguard Health Systems of Nashville, Tenn.