UMass Memorial Nurses Authorize Strike

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By Rick Saia

Registered nurses who work at the three Worcester campuses of UMass Memorial Medical Center have overwhelmingly authorized a one-day strike to protest what they say are deteriorating patient conditions.

The voting took place Thursday. The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), which represents more than 2,000 nurses at the three UMass Memorial campuses in Worcester, said 83 percent of the nurses voted in favor of a one-day walkout. The vote authorizes the union's negotiating committees to call a strike "if and when they feel it is necessary," the MNA said. If that were to happen, the union would give UMass Memorial officials a 10-day notice of the intent to strike.

The nurses have been working without contracts for more than a year. The pact with the unit at the university campus expired Dec. 31, 2011, according to the MNA, while the contract with nurses at the Memorial and Hahnemann campuses expired April 5 of last year.

The nurses called for the strike authorization vote after their unions have been in negotiations for more than a year on a new labor contract, citing "little progress" on several key issues, including a call for safer staffing levels for registered nurses. The nurses say they're "outraged" about poor patient conditions, a lack of resources, and "untenable" patient loads following more than six layoffs involving hundreds of registered nurses and support staff over the last two years.

In an emailed statement responding to the vote, UMass Memorial spokesman Robert Brogna said UMass is "very disappointed" that the nurses authorized a strike vote and criticized the union over its choice to threaten a strike and accuse the health care organization of maintaining unsafe staffing levels "as tools to achieve their bargaining objectives despite the impact that such tactics have on patients and employees."

The statement added that "the MNA has threatened Massachusetts hospitals with strikes eight times over the past two years because of alleged 'unsafe staffing.' "

"With this vote, our nurses are sending a strong message to management that something has to change; our patients are suffering, and nurses are struggling every day under dangerous staffing conditions that prevent us from providing the quality care we want to provide, and that our patients deserve," said Margaret McLoughlin, a nurse in the intensive care unit and co-chair of the local bargaining unit at the university campus. "We sincerely hope that management heeds this message and comes to the table ready to work with us to address our concerns for the good of our patients and our community."

According to official staffing plans posted on the Massachusetts Hospital Association's website, the medical center has gone from having the best staffing levels in Worcester for registered nurses to the worst for most of their units, the MNA said. "These staffing levels have had a demonstrable impact on the systems' quality of care," the MNA said.

Last fall, the union added, a Medicare report showed that the UMass system was listed among the 10 hospitals in the state receiving the highest penalties by the federal government for poor patient care, specifically for the rate that UMass patients are readmitted to the hospital — after being discharged — because of "preventable complications" related to their care.

"Studies have shown the (registered nurse) staffing levels are directly related to hospital readmission rates," the union said.

In its statement, UMass said it disagrees with the union's proposal of a "mandatory staffing ratio" "because studies have shown that mandated ratios do not improve the quality of care. This is why hospitals across the country have consistently rejected efforts to put mandatory staffing ratios into collective bargaining agreements, the UMass statement said.

"We are committed to maintaining appropriate staffing levels at the medical center to provide the high level of care our patients expect and deserve," the statement added. "Specifically, after listening carefully to our nurses, we have put forward comprehensive staffing proposals that address specific areas of focus without resorting to mandated staffing ratios."

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