When: Wednesday, July 12 | Rallies at 12 noon and 5 p.m. | Pickets from 7 a.m.-7 a.m.
Where: 800 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
The 1,200 registered nurses at Tufts Medical Center, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), plan to hold a one-day strike beginning at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, July 12 and running until 6:59 a.m. on Thursday, July 13 over issues of staffing and wages.
The Tufts RNs have been in talks with management for a new contract since April 2016, and more than 30 negotiating sessions have been held to date, with no resolution.
"We do not want to strike," said Mary Havlicek Cornacchia, an OR nurse and bargaining unit co-chair. "But management has left us with no other choice. They won't hear us. They don't believe us when we say that the contract improvements we are fighting for are necessary in order to keep patients safe, and in order to keep Tufts Medical Center competitive in a city full of top-notch hospitals. We want to be inside on July 12 caring for our patients, but if striking is the only way to get management to hear us and to take our issues seriously then we will be on the streets instead."
Tufts RNs are likely to face a 4-5 day lockout at the hands of Tufts Medical Center management as retaliation for exercising their right to strike. Please stay tuned for updates as the situation unfolds.
In the current environment at Tufts, nurses across all units and floors are contending with unsafe staffing situations on a daily basis, with many units reporting constant unsafe staffing levels. The result is too many RNs are regularly carrying patient assignments that are too large and unsafe.
Simultaneously, hospital management uses a system of temporary reassignment as a way of trying to deal with its chronic staffing challenges, resulting in RNs being directed to work on units and floors where they are unfamiliar and/or untrained to safely care for patients.
Tufts Medical Center has also become the hospital that offers its nurses the lowest wages and retirement benefits in the city.
Instead of putting workers first and the communities these members serve, CLASS management has continued to pour money into temporary staffing agencies, and brought unacceptable pay proposals to the bargaining table. Low wages for workers have caused high rates of staff turnover, which negatively impacts the individuals served by CLASS.At a bargaining session on Wednesday, workers brought up putting the individuals who they serve first and made it clear they were ready to continue bargaining. The CLASS management walked out. Workers at CLASS should be treated fairly for the important work they do helping people live with dignity.
We told our legislature: nobody should have to choose between the job they need and caring for themselves or loved ones.
