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WORCESTER – The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the labor union that represents our nurses, has announced that their members have voted to authorize a strike. “We have not received the required 10-day strike notice from the union. There is no strike currently underway at our hospital,” announced Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare in a statement this morning, February 11.
“Should the union proceed to notify us of a strike, our hospital will remain fully operational and we will continue to provide excellent patient care uninterrupted,” said the owner of the Worcester Hospital.
Tenet Healthcare is also the owner of MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham. It’s nurses are not represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
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“The package we have presented to the union is the strongest in 10 years and offers substantial pay increases, as high as 22% for some nurses, and other important benefits,” said Tenet Healthcare in a statement this morning.
Both parties are scheduled to resume talks with a federal mediator today, February 11.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association “is trying to alter staffing guidelines and has unsuccessfully tried to put forth staffing ratios in the legislature for more than a decade. They also lost on the ballot question 2 years ago, and are now trying to gain through negotiations what they failed to get through the ballot initiative. Our current collective bargaining agreement already includes staffing guidelines which were negotiated with the MNA and that are better than most other hospitals,” said Tenet Healthcare in a written statement this morning, February 11.
“A strike would accelerate divisiveness during a critical stage of the COVID-19 pandemic when we should be coming together to care for our patients and community. We value our relationship with all our employees, and we are committed to resolving the contract negotiations,” said Dallas-based Tenet.
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MetroWest Medical Center