St. Vincent's Strike

Friday's Talks Break Down Again With No Resolution Today (Friday). St. Vincent's RNs' Strike Continues, Tenet Continues to Demand Mandatory 16 Hour Shifts

After a negotiating session today that lasted less than an hour, talks between the St. Vincent's Hospital nurses and Tenet Health Care broke down after the hospital refused to withdraw its demand for mandatory 16-hour shifts as a means of staffing the hospital in non-emergency situations. The impasse will keep the nurses on the picket line as the strike enters its fourth week.

"We are deeply disappointed that Tenet refuses to negotiate over the issue of mandatory 16-hour shifts, and in so doing, is forcing this strike to continue," said Sandy Ellis, spokesperson for the nurses bargaining unit. "We have already made a concession granting up to four hours of mandatory overtime and were hopeful that today's negotiations would result in talks leading to a compromised settlement. Tenet has said it will not change its position, and will not come back to the table unless we accept 16-hour shifts as a means of staffing this hospital. We have already made an enormous concession in meeting them half way, we cannot ever accept 16-hour shifts. It is unsafe for nurses, and more importantly, it is dangerous for our patients. "

The hospital also refused to stay and bargain over other remaining issues, including the move the Worcester Medical Center, and most importantly, issues related to staffing levels in the new facility. The issue of staffing levels is inextricably linked to the issue of mandatory overtime because the only reason mandatory overtime becomes a problem in hospitals is when there is a shortage of nurses on staff. The hospital has come to the table demanding mandatory overtime, stating that they need this provision to staff the hospital in the future.

According to Debra Rigiero, co-chair of the nurses bargaining unit, "The fact that they will not even discuss staffing issues at the new hospital makes the nurses even more fearful and distrustful of Tenet's intentions regarding mandatory overtime. We have a legal right to this information, and it is an appropriate subject of bargaining, and we are left asking ourselves, why are they so afraid to provide us with this information? A nurse who interviewed with the hospital on Wednesday was told by a Tenet manager that nurse-to-patient ratio in the new facility would be 12 patients per nurse. If this is the case, there is not doubt that they are intending to use mandatory overtime to staff this hospital, and of greater concern to patients, the staffing levels in the new facility will be patently unsafe."

The nurses have called for an emergency meeting for its rank and file membership Saturday, April 22, 2000 from 2 – 4 p.m. to update them on what happened in the brief negotiations Friday.

At the last negotiating session on April 7, the nurses made a significant concession to resolve the dispute by agreeing to work up to four hours of mandatory overtime. The nurses' proposal would allow management to mandate a nurse to work two hours of overtime plus two additional hours in the event of unforeseen circumstances. This would allow the hospital to fill its periodic staffing shortages. Additionally, a nurse would have the right to refuse mandatory overtime if and when she feels too fatigued or impaired to provide safe patient care, and the mandated hours would move to the next nurse in the rotation.

The proposal to place limits on mandatory overtime mirrors a number of contract agreements MNA-represented nurses have negotiated at facilities where poor staffing conditions exist and mandatory overtime is used to compensate for lack of adequate staffing. The proposal also responds to CEO Bob Maher's public statements that, in most cases, nurses would not be expected to work more than two to three hours of mandatory overtime.

For its part, Tenet continues to demand the right to mandate 16-hour shifts. Under their proposal, a nurse working an eight-hour shift would be provided only one hour's notice that he or she would have stay an additional eight hours. Those who are mandated would be paid double time.

The nurses have been attempting to negotiate their first contract with Tenet, the nation's second largest for-profit hospital chain, for more than two years. The 615 nurses have organized a union and been using the collective bargaining process to address their primary concerns about inadequate staffing levels and deplorable working conditions under Tenet management. Tenet's staffing levels are the worst of the 85 facilities where the Massachusetts Nurses Association represents nurses in the state. St. Vincent's nurses on the day shift are regularly assigned between 8 – 10 patients on days, and between 12 – 14 patients on nights. A safe assignment is no more than six patients on days, and 8 patients on nights. The nurses have filed more than 450 official reports of unsafe staffing assignments that "jeopardize patient care."

Tenet purchased St. Vincent's Hospital in 1997, and has also built the new $215 million Worcester Medical Center in downtown Worcester. Tenet was scheduled to open the new facility and move the patients into it on April 1, 2000. The move was postponed for two days because of problems with care being delivered by more than 120 replacement "scab" nurses provided by U.S. Nursing Corps, a Denver-based firm that specializes in providing strike breaking nurses to hospitals involved in labor disputes. The nurses are paid more than $4,000 per week as well as food and lodging. The move to Worcester Medical Center took place on April 3, 2000. The MNA continues to receive numerous reports from employees and physicians inside the facility, as well as from patients leaving the facility that the nursing care being provided is very poor, and that the hospital is in a state of chaos.

Support for the nurses continues to build within the Greater Worcester community as well as from throughout the state and nation. On Tuesday, the Worcester/Framingham Central Labor Council, Community Caring for Nurses (a newly formed community activist group) and the Massachusetts Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice held a Candlelight Vigil which was attended by more than 1,000 citizens, including a number of religious, political and community leaders.

Back to Strike Page