In a move that could cost Tufts Medical Center up to $4.2 million, the nurses union at Tufts Medical on Monday announced its intention to strike next month amid protracted negotiations with the hospital centered around the hospital's staffing levels.
The strike is slated begin at 6 a.m. on May 6, National Nurses Day, and end at 7 a.m. on May 7, but could be held off if Tufts Medical meets the nurses' demands, according to Barbara Tiller, a nurse at Tufts Medical and chair of the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) bargaining unit.
The MNA, the union supporting Tufts Medical's 1,200 nurses, is required to issue the hospital a 10−day notice before strikes.
The MNA and Tufts Medical have been in negotiations since November following changes in the hospital's staffing pattern early last year.
After the nurses earlier this month voted to authorize a one−day strike, Tufts Medical said that, if the strike proceeded, the nurses would be out of work for no fewer than five days.
This rule ensures that the center could meet the requirements of the temporary nurse staffing company it would employ.
The five days of employing temporary nurses are expected to cost the hospital at least $4.2 million, according to Julie Jette, director of media relations and publications at Tufts Medical.
The MNA decided to issue a strike notice because no agreements on the hospital's nurse−to−patient ratio or other staffing issues were reached during bargaining sessions with the hospital on Friday and Monday, according to Tiller. MNA contends the ratio is too low.
"They were not willing to talk about staffing at all," Tiller told the Daily. "We tried several different approaches to get some relief so that nurses wouldn't have too many patients. They weren't willing to even talk about it."
Without a strike notice, Tiller said, the nurses decided that they would not be able to make progress.
If the strike occurs, Tufts Medical will be one of five hospitals nationwide under National Nurses United (NNU), the parent union of the MNA, on strike during the same week.
Tufts Medical President and Chief Executive Officer Ellen Zane criticized the NNU for its decision.
"We are extremely disappointed that they would take this reckless, national approach in Massachusetts and in Boston," Zane said in an April 25 statement. "It is clear that this is a selfish, self−serving agenda designed to increase MNA/NNU membership, and thus generate more union dues."
Earlier this month, the administration at Tufts Medical criticized the voting procedures of an April 14 vote in which Tufts Medical nurses overwhelmingly authorized the use of a one−day strike. A Tufts Medical press release the next day cited several irregular voting practices, such as allegations that the MNA had not released the exact vote count, that the ballot box was transparent and that nurses felt intimidated when voting.
A nurse, who Tiller directed to the Daily, said that she was shocked when she heard that some nurses felt intimidated by the voting procedures. The nurse has worked at the medical center for 24 years.
"That was a shock to me because I personally didn't feel one bit intimidated," the nurse, who requested anonymity due to worries about job repercussions, told the Daily. "I walked up and they told me to put the piece of paper in the box, and all I heard was, ‘Thank you for coming.' No one I worked with said they felt that way at all."
The medical center also said in the press release that the nurses were misinformed that the strike would last one day when, if the one−day strike occurred, they would in reality not be able to work for at least five days.
"If the MNA calls a strike, nurses will be unable to return to work for a minimum of five days," Jette told the Daily. "This is for two reasons: First, it is not good for continuity of patient care to have our entire nursing staff turn over twice in 24 hours. Second, because of this MNA action we must hire a nurse staffing company to provide us with nurses to care for our patients. Those nurses are recruited from around the country, and we must provide them with a minimum of 60 hours of work."
Tiller said that when the nurses voted, they were fully aware of Zane's ability to extend the period in which they would remain off work.
"What Ellen is saying is that she would rather hire the [temporary] nurses and bring them in, and if she has to pay them for five days, then they're going to work for five days," Tiller said. "Our nurses understand completely … that Ellen has the option of locking us out [for five days]. That is under her power, and she can do that. They have never been misled by anyone about what the risks are."
Tiller said, though, that the nurses have not received official notice from Zane or the hospital that there will be a four−day lockout period after the one−day strike.
"She keeps threatening it," Tiller said of Zane, "but we have not received official notice of that."
Tiller added that it is possible that the nurses and the hospital will negotiate during the period before the strike and that the strike will not have to happen. She said that the nurses are "very willing to negotiate" but have not yet heard from Tufts Medical whether it wanted to negotiate during the period before the strike.
"I'm not sure how you do that after you've given your best final offer," she said. "We're very willing to negotiate."
Tiller hopes that both sides will reach an agreement that ensures that the staffing levels return to what she believes are safe standards.
"Are we going to be settled by the end of all of this? I don't know," she said. "But at the end of the day, you just have to keep fighting for what you believe in."
