Walsh urges Tufts, nurses: Strike a deal
Mayor Martin J. Walsh called yesterday for striking nurses and the top doctor at Tufts Medical Center to return to the bargaining table in the hopes of reaching an agreement that benefits patients, workers and the public.
“I’m asking for it to end. I’ve talked to the nurses today and I’m asking them to come back to the bargaining table,” Walsh said, according to WBZ. “They said they’re more than willing to go back to the bargaining table. I’m asking the hospital now to come back to the bargaining table.
“What we need is not proposals going back and forth. We need a real negotiating session where it’s 24-48 hours right through,” the mayor said, according to the television station. “We have to make sure it’s fair and equitable for both sides. And I think you can do that. By negotiating you can get there.”
In a statement, Tufts acknowledged that Walsh reached out to hospital CEO Dr. Michael Wagner about his plans to come to the hospital yesterday.
“We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement with our nurse professionals so that together we can once again be solely focused on patients and their families,” the hospital said.
Two Bay State U.S. reps bolstered the 1,200 striking nurses who have been locked out of working since their strike started Wednesday.
“We need to stick together,” U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch said. “When you stick together you will win.”
Lynch later tweeted he stands with the nurses “fighting for safe staffing levels and much deserved benefits.”
U.S. Rep. Michael E. Capuano blasted the hospital for spurning the nurses, according to the WBZ radio report.
“To refuse to meet with duly elected representatives of this commonwealth,” he said, “to refuse to meet with a negotiating team, to institute a lockout, in Boston, Massachusetts, is just not what we do.”