2021–2022 Saint Vincent Hospital strike
The 2021–22 Saint Vincent Hospital strike was a labor strike involving nurses at the Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. The strike began on March 8, 2021, following disputes between the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents about 800 nurses at the hospital, and the hospital regarding staffing levels, and ended on January 3, 2022, after the nurses ratified an agreement with the hospital.[1]
| 2021–22 Saint Vincent Hospital strike | |||
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| Date | March 8, 2021 – January 3, 2022 | ||
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Background
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Saint Vincent Hospital is a hospital owned by Tenet Healthcare and located in Worcester, Massachusetts.[2][3] It is one of the few for-profit hospitals in Massachusetts.[4] Beginning around 2019, hospital officials and union representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA, a labor union which represents several hundred nurses at the hospital) began to negotiate issues regarding pay and staffing levels at the hospital.[3] According to the hospital, a labor contract proposal between the two groups included a "substantial" pay increase for the nurses,[5] but by 2021, the two groups had still not come to an agreement regarding staffing levels.[2][3] The hospital claims that the union's demands are "unreasonable" and allege that the hospital has "one of the most generous staffing ratios in the state". However, the union rejects this claim, arguing that nurses routinely have to attend to five patients at a time and that staffing levels at the nearby UMass Memorial Medical Center are lower than those at Saint Vincent.[2] In both December 2020 and January 2021, some nurses performed informational picketing outside the hospital.[6]
In mid-February 2021, the nurses voted to authorize open-ended strike action against the hospital,[7][8] and on February 23, the union issued their 10-day notice of their intent to strike.[9] The vote had passed with 89% of the nurses voting to approve the strike action.[10] The last strike action taken by the union was a 2017 strike at Tufts Medical Center that lasted one day and was followed by a four-day lockout, while the union's last open-ended strike (a strike with no set time limit) occurred at Brockton Hospital in 2001 and lasted 104 days.[2] MNA members had previously performed strike action at Saint Vincent in 2001 while seeking their first labor contract with the hospital.[2] The last meeting between the union and hospital representatives before the strike started was on March 3, where a counteroffer made by the union was rejected by the hospital without a subsequent counteroffer.[9][11]
Course of the strike
editOn March 8, 2021, the strike began, with approximately 800 nurses performing a walkout.[2][7] The strikers announced that they planned to picket from 6 a.m. to midnight until "we accomplish what we set out to do".[2] To accommodate for the nurses' absence, the hospital hired replacement workers at a cost of $5.4 million for five days.[2] Several nurses crossed the picket line, though the union claimed it was fewer than they had anticipated.[2] On the morning of March 12, former U.S. Representative Joe Kennedy III joined the picket line in support of the strikers, while U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Jim McGovern were at the picket line that afternoon.[12] That same day, the strike became the longest nurses strike in the state in two decades.[4] During the strike, the hospital has experienced issues with other unions representing hospital workers. Local 1445 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) announced plans to perform informational picketing alongside the nurses, as their contract with the hospital had expired on February 28 without a replacement. Additionally, Local 170 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters claimed that their members were being tasked with duties outside their normal work, a claim which has been denied by the hospital's CEO Carolyn Jackson.[4]
On March 15, the hospital alleged that union members were bullying and harassing nurses who had crossed the picket line and issued a list of incidents they claimed had been committed by striking nurses.[8] The union denied the accusations and accused the hospital of deflecting from the issues that had caused the strike.[9] On March 21, the strike entered its second week.[13] On March 28, the Telegram & Gazette reported that the hospital had set up security cameras outside the hospital to monitor strikers, with Jackson claiming that they were to ensure the safety of people entering the hospital. The cameras were criticized by the union as an intimidation tactic and an unnecessary expenditure.[14] That same day, McGovern and U.S. Senator Ed Markey met with strikers.[15] In addition, the city council of Worcester approved a resolution stating their support for the strike, and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey voiced her support.[16] On March 29, Spectrum News reported that the hospital was spending about $30,000 per day on police details.[17] Additionally, an April 2 article in The Republican claimed that the hospital had spent several million dollars over the first several weeks of the strikes on replacement nurses, with the average replacement nurse being paid double the average pay for a regular nurse at Saint Vincent.[18] On April 4, an Easter event was held at the picket line.[19]
On December 17, 2021, over nine months after the strike had begun, the MNA and the hospital reached a tentative agreement to end the strike, pending ratification from the union nurses.[20] The vote to ratify the agreement took place on January 3, 2022, which the nurses voting overwhelmingly in favor of ratification, thus ending the strike after 301 days.[1]
See also
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References
edit- ^ a b "Saint Vincent Hospital Nurses Approve New Deal To End Historic Strike". WBZ-TV. January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Freyer, Felice J.; Ellement, John R.; Andersen, Travis (March 8, 2021). "Strike continues at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c Bowden, John (March 8, 2021). "Massachusetts nurses strike after failing to reach staffing level agreement". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c Freyer, Felice J. (March 12, 2021). "St. Vincent's strike heads into second week". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^ "Hundreds of nurses at Massachusetts hospital go on strike". New York Post. News Corp. Associated Press. March 9, 2021. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^ Moulton, Cyrus (January 6, 2021). "St. Vincent nurses hold another informational picket over contract, staffing". Telegram & Gazette. Gannett. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
- ^ a b "800 nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester go on strike". WCVB-TV. March 8, 2021. Archived from the original on March 17, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^ a b "Hospital accuses striking nurses of bullying, intimidation on the picket line". WCVB-TV. March 15, 2021. Archived from the original on March 17, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c Bonner, Michael (March 15, 2021). "MNA denies claims that striking nurses in Worcester are 'bullying' people". The Republican. Advance Publications. Archived from the original on March 17, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^ Sami, Isabel (February 10, 2021). "St. Vincent Hospital stands by final offer after nurses OK authorization to strike". Telegram & Gazette. Gannett. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
- ^ Bonner, Michael (April 6, 2021). "McGovern says replacement nurses 'couldn't find Kelley Square if you gave them a map'". The Republican. Advance Publications. Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
- ^ Moulton, Cyrus (March 12, 2021). "Power boost: US Sen. Warren, Rep. McGovern and Joseph Kennedy III join St. Vincent nurses on picket line Friday". Telegram & Gazette. Gannett. Archived from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
- ^ Foskett Jr, Steven H. (March 21, 2021). "Nurses' strike continues for 14th consecutive day at St. Vincent Hospital". Telegram & Gazette. Gannett. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
- ^ Cartolano, Marco (March 28, 2021). "St. Vincent Hospital adds cameras to monitor picket line; nurses say it's a waste of money". Telegram & Gazette. Gannett. Archived from the original on March 28, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
- ^ "Sen. Markey, Rep. McGovern meet with Worcester nurses on strike". WCVB-TV. March 28, 2021. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
- ^ Moulton, Cyrus (March 31, 2021). "What you need to know about the St. Vincent strike". Telegram & Gazette. Gannett. Archived from the original on April 1, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Lemmon, Olivia (March 29, 2021). "Nurses Union Says Saint Vincent is Spending $30k a Day on Police Details". Spectrum News 1. Charter Communications. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Bartlett, Jessica (April 2, 2021). "St. Vincent Hospital offered up to $110 per hour for replacement nurses during Worcester strike, emails show". The Republican. Advance Publications. Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
- ^ Carrillo, Sofía Hernández (April 4, 2021). "St. Vincent nurses will begin fifth week on strike with Easter family event". WWLP. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
- ^ Benevides, Monica (December 17, 2021). "Saint Vincent, MNA reach tentative strike-end agreement". Worcester Business Journal. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
Further reading
edit- Bonner, Michael (March 22, 2021). "MNA claims care at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester has deteriorated during nurses' strike". The Republican. Advance Publications. Archived from the original on March 24, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- Moulton, Cyrus (April 2, 2021). "St. Vincent CEO Carolyn Jackson says strike part of larger agenda for nurses". Telegram & Gazette. Gannett. Archived from the original on April 3, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021 – via MSN.