Union files labor charges against Saint Vincent

photo/grant welker Signs supporting the striking Saint Vincent Hospital union nurses dot yards throughout Worcester during the 301-day strike that ended in January.

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By Alexander MacDougall

The Massachusetts Nurses Association union has filed charges of unfair labor practice against Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, in response to a proposed plan to impose 12-hour shifts on nurses working in the hospital’s inpatient units and emergency departments.

The charges, which were filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday, come only a few months after the end of a 301-day labor strike by Saint Vincent nurses. Specifically, the new charges allege that Saint Vincent, along with its parent company Tenet Healthcare in Dallas, failed to provide the union with necessary information regarding the strike settlement's reimbursement provisions, as well as unlawfully engaging in direct dealing with nurses by unilaterally imposing the the 12-hour shifts.

The case is being investigated by Daniel Fein, a field attorney for the NLRB.

“This is a callous move to force existing nursing staff to extend from 8-hour to 12 -hour work shifts while also permanently forcing many to be shifted to the night shift, totally upending their lives and compromising their ability to practice,” MNA Executive Director Julie Pinkham said in a press release Tuesday announcing the filing of charges. “It is just another example of Tenet forcing nurses and patients to pay the price for Tenet’s focus on the bottom line.”

In addition to the unfair labor charges, the MNA has filed an injunction to prevent the implementation of the new plan, which was announced in March and is scheduled to take effect at the hospital on Sunday.

Saint Vincent CEO Carolyn Jackson had pledged to help restore the culture at the hospital in the aftermath of the strike, although the latest charges by the MNA could threaten the mending.

In response, Saint Vincent said the move to extend working hours would allow better recruitment of nurses at other hospitals as well as retain staff.

"Saint Vincent Hospital’s collective bargaining agreement with the Massachusetts Nurses Association explicitly gives us the right to move nurses to 12-hour shifts with 30 days’ notice," the hospital said in a written statement. "Our decision to transition to twelve-hour shifts is to enable the hospital to attract and retain as many nurses as possible."

According to the MNA, up to 250 nurses could possibly be affected by the change in working hours. The hospital had met with the nurses on April 15 to discuss potential compromises to the new policy, but no resolution had been reached by the conclusion.