Warren, Markey, McGovern, Trahan Urge Tenet Healthcare to Pursue Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service’s Assistance to Resolve Nurses' Strike at St. Vincent’s
Washington, D.C. - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren
and Edward J. Markey along with Representatives James P. McGovern and Lori
Trahan sent a letter to Tenet Healthcare (Tenet) calling on them to pursue the
assistance offered by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to
return to the table and resolve negotiations with the professional nurses at
St. Vincent Hospital (St. Vincent’s).
"It is essential - for your patients and for the communities you serve -
that Tenet meet the needs of its front-line workers. Once again, we urge Tenet
to use the assistance offered by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Services or engage in any other mutually agreed upon processes to end the
strike so St. Vincent’s nurses can go back to caring for their community,"
the lawmakers wrote.
The existing contract between the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA)
and St. Vincent's expired on February 11, 2021. The MNA authorized a work
stoppage after the existing contract expired and began the work stoppage on
March 8, 2021 - almost five months ago. Several staffing proposals have been
made by the MNA St. Vincent Nurses Bargaining Committee. However, Tenet has not
agreed to these proposals, and the nurses' jobs have been threatened by
replacement nurses as patients lose access to critical services, including
medical, surgical capacity and critical care beds.
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