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09.04.2001
American Red Cross Nurses Reach Agreement Averting 3-Day Strike Which Was Set to Begin on Sep. 5th
DEDHAM, Mass.—Registered nurses at the American
Red Cross Blood Services - New England Region, who have been attempting
to negotiate a new contract for more than a year, have reached an "agreement
in principle" with Red Cross management that will avert a 3-day strike,
scheduled to have begun on Sep. 5th.
The agreement was reached in talks held last Friday with a federal
mediator. Both parties will meet again on Thursday, Sep. 6 to review
and finalize the details of a tentative agreement that can then be
shared with the rank and file membership. The nurses' negotiating
committee intends to recommend ratification of the agreement once
it is finalized. Specific details of the pact will be withheld until
after the membership has had an opportunity to review the settlement,
which should occur early next week.
The nurses were preparing to conduct a three-day strike over their
concern over the agency's efforts to weaken the union by replacing
union nurses with non-union "supervisors" to perform the same duties.
The 68 American Red Cross RNs, who are represented by the Massachusetts
Nurses Association, have been negotiating their new contract since
July 10, 2000. The nurses last contract expired on August 15, 2000.
After a number of negotiating sessions, a tentative agreement was
reached in February, but was rejected by the membership on March
14, 2001. A federal mediator has been involved in the process for
a number of months. In May, a request by the nurses to submit the
remaining unresolved issues to Interest Arbitration was rejected
by management, spurring the nurses to picket and leaflet for public
support. The parties met again on June 19, 2001, at which time the
Red Cross made its final offer and declared an impasse. On July 8,
the rank and file voted again to reject the offer and voted to authorize
its negotiating committee to call a strike. The parties last met
on August 6.
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