Following four days of secret negotiations, Tenet Healthcare and the nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester found a lot of common ground. However, the strike continues, now no longer about staffing but instead regarding nurses returning to their previous positions.
Even regarding a “back-to-work” provision, the two sides agree — to an extent. Both sides said in statements on Thursday that it’s customary for striking employees to return to their previous positions once a deal is struck.
The disagreement arises from Tenet Healthcare, the Dallas-based parent company of Saint Vincent Hospital, saying this isn’t a normal strike.
“While we agree with the MNA that in many strike situations, strikers do return to previous positions, that is typical in strikes that last from a few days to a few weeks at most,” a spokesperson for Tenet Healthcare said in a statement. “In this case, the strike has gone on for almost 6 months on the premise.”
Due to the length of the strike, Tenet said it hired permanent replacement nurses for certain roles. The hospital announced on Aug. 8 that it had hired 100 permanent nurses amid the strike.
“This was discussed openly and publicly stated to the MNA, but unfortunately, the MNA chose to ignore the plea to settle and avoid this situation,” Tenet said in a statement. “The hospital took these steps to protect critical services for Worcester and the surrounding community and to ensure the safety and availability of critical services without disruption.”
Tenet said some of the permanent nurses are members of the MNA who chose to cross the picket line. In March when the strike began, Tenet said about 15% or about 100 MNA members returned to work at the hospital.
Tenet said it will guarantee that every striking nurse will have a job available to them with about 85% returning to the exact job and shift.
“For the remaining 15%, we have committed to work with the MNA to try and resolve these situations once a return to work agreement is in place,” Tenet said.
A federal mediator called both parties to the table on Monday in an attempt to reach an agreement, the MNA said on Thursday. Parties negotiated in secret until Thursday.
After four days of negotiating an overall deal appeared to be reached.
“Going into the talks, the nurses were prepared to accept the hospital’s last offer on staffing, noting that while not providing all that they wanted, it still provided significant staffing improvements,” the MNA said in a statement.
However, the MNA said a “back to work” provision — which guarantees all nurses who went out on strike the right to return to work in the same position, hours and shift they worked prior to the strike — is now continuing the strike, which will reach six months on Sept. 8.
The nurses strike in Worcester is the second-longest in state history, but is approaching the longest. The longest strike by nurses in Massachusetts was six months in 1980 by the nurses at Burbank Hospital in Fitchburg, the MNA said.
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