St. Vincent Says It 'Will Not Concede' To Nurse Staffing Demand

WORCESTER, MA — The first negotiation between striking St. Vincent Hospital nurses and hospital leaders in almost two months came and went on Monday with no resolution.

The two sides returned to the bargaining table Monday afternoon. A hospital spokesperson said executives offered nurses the chance to create an audit committee to oversee staffing. The nurses union said its members reviewed the offer and decided to reject it.

St. Vincent nurses, organized under the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) union, walked off the job on March 8. The nurses are seeking a variety of concessions, but mainly want the hospital to boost staffing so there's a four-to-one ratio of nurses to patients.

"Before going back to the table, we reiterated what we have been saying for months, that we will not concede to across the board 4:1 staffing," the hospital said in a statement released late Monday night.

"Unfortunately, Tenet came to the table without addressing the nurses call for safer staffing standards that the nurses had raised prior to the strike, and which had been communicated to the mediator on Friday when the negotiations were scheduled," an MNA news release said.

U.S. Rep Lori Trahan was set to meet with the nurses on Tuesday, and Worcester Interfaith was scheduled to host a third candlelight vigil with nurses outside the hospital beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Neither the MNA nor St. Vincent officials announced when the next round of negotiations could begin.