St. Vincent Nurses Will Strike In March: Union

WORCESTER, MA — The clock is now ticking on a nurses strike at St. Vincent Hospital.

The nurses have delivered a 10-day strike notice to hospital officials, which means a strike could begin as soon as March 8 if the nurses and management do not reach an agreement over labor issues, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA). The MNA represents about 800 nurses at the hospital.

The nurses have been advocating for increased staffing levels since last spring, but have so far not been satisfied. The MNA says the nurses have met with managers 31 times with no solution. St. Vincent is a for-profit hospital owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, which also owns the MetroWest Medical Center.

“Nurses have been pushed to the brink with unsafe staffing conditions by Tenet for more than two years. We refuse to be pushed any further and are now ready to do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of our patients," St. Vincent nurse Marlena Pellegrino said in a news release. "While it is an agonizing decision to decide to strike, we are committed to do so on March 8 unless Tenet comes to its senses and finally puts its concern for patients ahead of its desire to increase its profits at our patients’ expense."

The St. Vincent nurses held a large demonstration in early December to draw attention to their concerns, and have been holding picketing events outside the hospital. U.S. Sen Ed. Markey visited the picketers last week to hear their concerns.

In a financial filing this week, Tenet highlighted union activity as a threat to the company's bottom line. About 28 percent of the company's hospital employees are part of a union.

"When negotiating collective bargaining agreements with unions, whether such agreements are renewals or first contracts, there is a possibility that strikes could occur, and our continued operation during any strikes could increase our labor costs and have an adverse effect on our patient volumes and net operating revenues," Tenet's annual report said.