St. V's Nurses To Vote On Strike
Nurses from Saint Vincent Hospital are expected to vote Friday on whether or not to authorize a one-day strike.
The 740 nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, say that St. Vincent owner Vanguard Health Care has refused to improve what the union deems as unsafe patient conditions caused in part by "the worst RN staffing levels in the city."
At the end of a Monday negotiating session with a federal mediator, the union said that the hospital issued an "unspecified statement of intent" to hire more nurses.
But that was apparently not enough to satisfy the union, which has been in negotiations with St. Vincent for more than 16 months, totaling 39 negotiating sessions to date. Nurses have been conducting informational pickets outside the hospital for the past month.
Dennis Irish, a spokesman for St. Vincent, said that administrators are disappointed about the upcoming vote because a strike would be bad for both patients and other employees at the hospital.
"We're disappointed that the MNA would schedule a strike authorization vote given that we have a substantive proposal addressing both staffing and modest compensation increases on the table," Irish said.
Irish said that a temporary nurses contract extension expires April 19, so the hospital has contingency plans for any time after that date to deal with a potential strike. Irish said the hospital would remain open in the event of a strike and that it would be forced to hire other nurses for the day.
The vote is expected to take place by secret ballot throughout the day Friday at the MNA's regional headquarters on Shrewsbury Street.
The union said that the vote will not mean that the nurses would strike immediately, but gives the negotiating committee the authority to call the strike when and if they deem it necessary. The union would notify the hospital 10 days in advance of the strike. The nurses' contract expired at the end of 2009.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments