Worcester City Council to vote on supporting striking Saint Vincent nurses

Photo | Grant Welker Nurses picketing outside Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester

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By Grant Welker

Worcester city councilors are due to vote Tuesday night on a resolution supporting hundreds of Saint Vincent Hospital nurses who are striking because of what they call unsafe staffing levels.

The resolution, drafted by Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson, cited the nurses' sacrifice during the coronavirus pandemic and the number of unsafe staffing reports filed by Saint Vincent nurses during the health crisis. It also supports members of the hospital's United Food and Commercial Workers union, which began picketing with the nurses union on Saturday but has not yet voted on whether to strike.

The draft language of the vote calls upon Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, Saint Vincent's parent company, to re-engage in negotiations with the Massachusetts Nurses Association to help end the strike, which began March 8.

The pending support from the Worcester City Council would add to high-profile support from other lawmakers, including visits to picketers last Friday from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Jim McGovern, and a visit in mid-February by U.S. Sen. Ed Markey.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Saint Vincent took issue with one aspect of the proposed resolution: the number of unsafe staffing complaints. The number isn't more than 600 as has been mentioned by the union, the hospital said, but 392, not counting duplicate reports for the same issues.

"Only 13 of them were valid nurse staffing complaints, all of which were addressed," the hospital said. "It should also be noted that 74 of the complaints came from members of the MNA bargaining committee, suggesting that some were filed more as a bargaining tactic than due to a valid issue."