The nurses of St. Vincent Hospital and Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare will resume negotiations on Monday, April 26 at 3 p.m., the first round of negotiations since the nurses launched their strike on March 8 for a new contract that the nurses believe must include needed staffing improvements to ensure safer care for all the patients at the facility to end the strike.
A federal mediator scheduled the talks on Friday, after discussions with both parties, with Tenet agreeing to present a long-awaited proposal that the nurses hope can move the process forward to end the strike.
“With the resolve we have gained over the last seven weeks on strike, we have always been willing to get back to the table in hopes of settling a contract that puts the safety and dignity of our patients first,” said Marlena Pellegrino, longtime nurse at the hospital and co-chair of the nurses local bargaining with the Massachusetts Nurses Association. “We are hopeful that the Hospital will come to the table in earnest with a serious proposal that will adequately address the needs of all of our patients and honor the integrity of the negotiating process. If this is their true intent, we will negotiate as hard and long as it takes to reach an agreement and get back where we have always belonged – at the bedside caring for our patients and the community we have served with pride for so many years.”
As 800 nurses enter their eighth week on strike, Tenet recently reported more than $97 million in profits and revenues in excess of $4.7 billion for the first quarter of the year, following the posting of $400 million in profits for 2020. To date, Tenet is projected to have invested more than $45 million* to prolong the St. Vincent nurses’ strike – all to avoid providing the safer patient care conditions the nurses are seeking.
The strike began on March 8, after Tenet had refused to negotiate with the nurses over improvements the nurses are seeking to improve unsafe patient care conditions in the hospital. The decision followed earnest and painstaking efforts over the last two years by the nurses to convince Tenet to improve the patient care conditions at the facility, poor conditions that have only been exacerbated by the pandemic.
The nurses’ strike and their stand for safer patient care has galvanized support from a variety of public officials, labor, faith-based organizations and community advocates, including the entire Worcester City Council, the Worcester state legislative delegation, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Edward Markey Congressman Jim McGovern and Attorney General Maura Healy who have all visited the nurses strike line. Senators Warren, Markey and Congressman McGovern sent their own letter to Tenet’s CEO in Dallas urging Tenet to negotiate with the nurses to address the nurses’ concerns over needed staffing improvements to ensure safe care.
In the last year alone, nurses have filed more than 600 official “unsafe staffing” reports (more than 110 such reports have been filed since January 1, 2021) in which nurses informed management in real time that patient care conditions jeopardized the safety of their patients. The nurses also report their patients in Worcester have experienced an increase in patient falls, an increase in patients suffering from preventable bed sores, potentially dangerous delays in patients receiving needed medications and other treatments – all due to lack of appropriate staffing, excessive patient assignments, and cuts to valuable support staff.
Staffing Improvements Sought by the Nurses
As evidenced by its own report of massive profits, Tenet can well afford the additional positions necessary to implement the MNA staffing proposal that could end this strike. The money being spent to prolong the strike could easily address the proposed staffing improvements the nurses are seeking, which are staffing standards on a par with other hospitals in Worcester and across the state, including: