NURSES EXPECTED BACK TODAY
Tufts officials accuse protesters of disruption outside hotels
More than 300 nurses locked out of Tufts Medical Center since their oneday strike Wednesday are expected to return to work today after what hospital management charges was a “violent” end to the standoff yesterday.
Sean Sullivan, Tufts vice president of human resources, said he anticipates it’s “going to be a difficult day emotionally for everyone involved.” But he said the word will be put out to employees, “All of us will treat each other respectfully and professionally.”
Chief Nursing Officer Terry Hudson-Jinks said yesterday that while there are no immediate plans for the two sides to return the bargaining table, she expects to hear soon from the federal mediator handling the contract negotiations.
“Our expectation in the days to come is that we will be laying out a plan to go forward,” Hudson-Jinks said. “Our focus has been on running clinical operations here.”
About 100 pickets paced the sidewalk outside the hospital’s main entrance yesterday holding signs, walking dogs and erupting in cheers with every passing honk of a car horn.
Meanwhile, Sullivan and Hudson-Jinks appeared to be keeping their options open as to whether they will discipline nurses, pursue criminal charges or reach out to the National Labor Relations Board over what Tufts claims were early morning attacks yesterday by union supporters outside hotels, where buses were collecting temporary replacement nurses.
“At a couple of the hotels where the replacement nurses have been staying there were protesters shouting profanities, pounding on buses and throwing coffee, and really trying to intimidate the nurses that we count on to come to the medical center and to deliver care to our patients,” Hudson-Jinks said. “We feel that that is uncalled for, unnecessary, extremely disturbing and very unacceptable. I personally believe that our Tufts Medical Center nurses would never participate in such a deplorable act.”
Massachusetts Nurses Association spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said the union learned of the alleged incidents from media and had no specifics as to who was involved.
“We are just disappointed to know that this is distracting from what the nurses are really focused on: securing a fair contract that improves patient safety, improves nurse staffing, and adds much-needed nursing resources,” Johnson said.
State police spokesman David Procopio confirmed his department was contacted by the management at one hotel yesterday shortly after 5:45 a.m. because of protesters in support of Tufts nurses without a permit.
“Troopers responded and confirmed that the 22 protesters indeed did not have a required permit for protest activity,” Procopio said. “We spoke to the protesters and informed them that they could not demonstrate without a permit. The protesters were cooperative and dispersed without incident. There was no violence or throwing of any objects or items.”
Hudson-Jinks declined to say whether Tufts will take its complaints to the National Labor Relations Board or the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which later this month will put four Teamsters on trial for allegedly using threats to extort a reality TV crew into hiring union drivers. A spokeswoman for acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb also declined comment yesterday.