Business & Tech
UMass Memorial Nurses Authorize 14-Day Strike Amid Staffing Dispute
The Massachusetts Nurses Association said 99 percent of voting nurses approved the strike last week.
WORCESTER, MA — Registered nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center’s University Campus have authorized a 14-day strike amid an ongoing contract dispute with hospital leadership.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association said 99 percent of voting nurses approved the strike Wednesday, following months of negotiations over staffing, workplace safety, compensation and nurse retention. The vote does not mean nurses will immediately strike, but gives the bargaining committee authority to call a 14-day strike if talks do not produce an agreement, according to the union.
The nurses work at the University Campus, the region’s only academic medical center and Level 1 Trauma Center. The MNA said nurses are seeking safer staffing, stronger workplace violence protections, better compensation and contract language ensuring charge nurses are available to assist on units.
“No nurse wants to strike. But our members have made it clear that they are prepared to do whatever it takes to secure a contract that protects our patients, improves safety, and makes this hospital a place where experienced nurses want to stay and new nurses want to build their careers,” Margaret McLoughlin, RN and co-chair of the MNA bargaining unit, said in a statement.
The union said staffing pressures have worsened as patients have become sicker following the COVID pandemic. The MNA cited Massachusetts Department of Public Health data showing more than 22.4 percent of emergency room patients statewide required hospitalization after the pandemic, compared with a pre-pandemic average of 19.6 percent.
Worcester Legislators Join Nurses Urging Fair Contract
The strike vote followed a June 29 letter to UMass Memorial Health CEO Eric Dickson from 14 state lawmakers representing Worcester County and nearby communities. The lawmakers urged the health system to conduct negotiations with “cooperation, full transparency, and meaningful engagement from both parties.”
The letter, signed by state Sen. Michael Moore and 13 other legislators, said nurses have reported continued stress tied to patient acuity, staffing concerns and workplace violence. The lawmakers wrote that health care workers in Massachusetts face workplace violence every 36 minutes and about 40 professionals experience physical or verbal violence each day.
The lawmakers also said the July 1 strike vote was the result of a year of negotiations and “no meaningful effort to address the nurses’ concerns.”
MNA officials said nurses at the University Campus previously joined informational pickets on March 26 with nurses from other UMass Memorial hospitals. The union also said more than 80 percent of the bargaining unit signed a petition to Dickson pledging to push for a contract addressing workplace safety, patient care and nurse retention.
UMass Memorial Health told Patch it remains committed to continuing bargaining in good faith to reach a fair agreement.
“A work stoppage impacts everyone," UMass Memorial Health wrote in a statement to Patch. "We are confident we can reach a resolution that is beneficial to our nurses and non-nursing caregivers, the care we provide to our patients, and the overall stability of the Medical Center.“
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