Nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester have returned to work after a historic nine-month strike. But even as the workers and hospital leaders try to move on from the bitter dispute, conflict lingers.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the union that launched the strike and negotiated a new contract with Saint Vincent, is now facing a new threat: being kicked out of the hospital entirely. A contingent of nurses upset by the strike is pushing to decertify the union and nix the hard-fought labor contract. A decertification vote began Friday, and nurses have until the end of February to decide whether to keep or expel the union.
Nurses on both sides of the effort are scrambling to win votes, and the situation is so tense that they declined to talk publicly.
C. Richard Avola, the nurse who sparked the decertification effort, did not respond to requests for an interview. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which helps workers fight labor unions and is backing Avola, declined to make him available. Instead, it issued a statement on his behalf.
“The MNA’s strike bitterly divided both the nurses and the patients of St. Vincent Hospital, and my colleagues and I are simply seeking an up-or-down vote on whether MNA union officials should remain in power at the facility,” Avola said in the statement. “Union officials should be accountable to the workers they claim to represent, and we have a right to have our voices heard.”
David Schildmeier, a spokesman for the nurses union, said nurses are focused on getting back to work and educating their colleagues, new and old, on the benefits of union membership.
“The goal will be to educate those who disagree with the union why they did what they did,” he said.
The new contract covers all nurses, whether they went on strike or were hired as replacements for the striking nurses. The contract set limits of four or five patients per nurse in most units, and it gave many nurses pay increases of up to 28 percent.
If nurses vote to decertify the union, they give up those wage guarantees and other commitments, Schildmeier said — “they lose all of that.”
Meanwhile, just half of striking nurses decided to return to Saint Vincent.
During the strike, which stretched from March to December, many Saint Vincent nurses took temporary jobs at other hospitals. Many worked per diem shifts, while others took longer-term assignments with staffing agencies. And some nurses retired.
Hospital leaders said just about 310 nurses ultimately returned to their jobs and are still working, out of 612 who were on strike. (Union officials contend that more nurses, about 340, returned to work).
Saint Vincent, part of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, hired replacement nurses to continue operating during the strike. In total, the hospital now employs 680 nurses, about 180 fewer than before the strike, and is working to hire more, said chief executive Carolyn Jackson.
Saint Vincent closed more than 100 beds during the strike, and many patients had to seek care at other facilities, including nearby University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center. It’s unclear if patients will return to Saint Vincent in the same numbers as before the strike.
The hospital is still operating with about 60 fewer beds than before the strike, and Jackson said it’s too early to know if all of them will reopen.
“It really depends on demand,” she said. “At some point, we will be able to hire enough nurses to staff all of those beds, but if the patient demand isn’t there, then perhaps we don’t open some. It’s too early to tell.”
As for the decertification vote, Jackson said hospital executives “respect our nurses’ right to choose and determine what is right for them. We are simply trying to educate them.”
The strike began in March after the union and the hospital failed to reach agreement on nurse staffing levels. In December, the two sides finally reached agreement on staffing, wages, benefits, and a demand from the union — which the hospital initially fought — that striking nurses return to the same positions they held before the strike.
The settlement came after an intervention from US Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh, the former mayor of Boston and longtime union supporter.
Nurses overwhelmingly ratified the contract 301 days after going on strike.
In late January, after attending reorientation sessions, union nurses began taking care of patients again. The early days have been tinged with relief, but also some lingering resentments.
“It has been a little challenging,” Jackson said. “There are some places where there’s been some hard feelings. We are working through them as quickly as we can.”
The hospital is working to build a culture of collaboration and mutual respect, she said.
Schildmeier, the union spokesman, acknowledged the “awkward situation” of trying to collaborate after a bitter dispute. “But [nurses] just want to be back taking care of patients,” he said. “They’re committed to just making it work.”
Priyanka Dayal McCluskey can be reached at priyanka.mccluskey@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @priyanka_dayal.
"bitter" - Google News
February 07, 2022 at 04:39AM
https://ift.tt/rXVcFtS
Bitter feelings linger after lengthy strike at Saint Vincent Hospital - BetaBoston
"bitter" - Google News
https://ift.tt/KMHJnDT
https://ift.tt/qUMtd13
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Bitter feelings linger after lengthy strike at Saint Vincent Hospital - BetaBoston"
Post a Comment