McGovern, Warren, Sara Nelson Will Rally For St. Vincent Nurses

WORCESTER, MA — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern will join the picket line Saturday to mark nearly 100 days since the St. Vincent Hospital nurses strike began.

The nurses will also get a visit from Sara Nelson, the leader of the largest flight attendants union in the nation — one that has moved the federal government and multibillion-dollar corporations before.

Saturday's rally comes after St. Vincent Hospital, owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, which counted nearly $15 billion in revenue in 2020, recently began hiring to replace some of the hundreds of nurses who are on strike.

The St. Vincent nurses want better pay and benefits, but have mainly been demanding higher staffing levels inside the hospital. The hospital's leaders say the nurses demands are too high, and the two sides have not been negotiating since an offer made by St. Vincent in early May.

"Tenet already made an unbelievable $97 million in profit this year," McGovern said in a news release. "They have plenty of money to address the concerns of St. Vincent nurses, but they won’t. It’s just plain wrong."

The Saturday rally featuring Warren, McGovern and Nelson begins at noon at the Massachusetts Nurses Union (MNA) strike headquarters at 11 East Central St.