CEO blasts nurses union
Accuses them of ‘intimidation’ as strike looms
As a planned strike approaches, the head of St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester accused the Massachusetts Nurses Association of intimidating members considering crossing the picket line.
In a letter to the union Friday, CEO Carolyn Jackson accused union representatives and members of “intolerable incidents of bullying and intimidation” ahead of a strike the union has planned to start Monday morning.
“We cannot condone this sort of behavior, and I request that you and the MNA leadership join us in the expectation that this behavior is not appropriate and will not help resolve negotiations,” she said. “The incidents involving our nurses are contrary to the Saint Vincent Code of Conduct, which prohibit harassment and intimidation.”
Incidents Jackson alleged included “numerous” nurses having received — and shared with administrators — “harassing texts and phone calls in addition to ‘ threatening inperson interactions.'”
One senior nurse, a member of the union’s negotiating team at the hospital, told nurses that their names would be shared with the MNA at other Massachusetts union hospitals to ensure they don’t get jobs there, according to Jackson.
And, “Several nurses have recently resigned and informed hospital leadership this was due to intimidation at the workplace by fellow MNA members,” she said.
David Schildmeier, an MNA spokesman, said the union, which represents 800 nurses at the hospital, will track those who cross the picket line, and their names will be shared on the St. Vincent nurses Facebook page.
“But I have seen no threats,” he said. “The real bully here is a hospital that is forcing nurses to put their lives and the lives of their patients at risk.”
Nurses are prepared to strike at 6 a.m. on Monday, Schildmeier said, because hospital administrators walked away from the bargaining table on Wednesday. Jackson has said the hospital will use replacement nurses. The major sticking point in negotiations has been staffing, he said. The emergency department averages one nurse per six patients, Schildmeier said. The union wants to increase the number of nurses there and add 10 “sitters,” people who would watch patients to make sure they don’t fall or harm themselves if they are suicidal.
Elsewhere in the hospital, he said, the union wants one nurse for every four patients, as well as more aides and secretaries.