Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth nurses were back at the bargaining table Friday, one day after union members picketed outside the library and voted overwhelmingly to authorize a three-day strike.
The nurses voted 279-19 in favor of striking, if agreement on a new contract can’t be reached. About 40 nurses did not vote.
The authorization enables the nurses’ bargaining committee to schedule the strike for as yet undetermined date. The union would be required to give the hospital 10 days’ notice before walking off the job.
“A vote like this should send a strong and powerful message to Beth Israel’s management of just how serious these nurses are about the need to improve the conditions at this hospital,” said David Schildmeier, spokesman for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents the BID-Plymouth nurses.
“We hope they heed that message and finally negotiate an agreement that provides the protections this community deserves,” he said in an emailed statement.
Donna Doherty, the hospital’s senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer, called the vote and picketing “distractions.” She said its goal “remains to reach a fair agreement with the MNA as soon as possible.” But she also suggested that the hospital is readying for a possible strike.
“Our priority is providing outstanding, continuous patient care to our community,” Doherty said in an emailed statement. “We recognize the important role our clinical care staff and entire team play in this work, which is why we have proposed rates that are extremely competitive during the past several months of negotiations with the MNA.”
The hospital, she added, “will continue to negotiate in good faith,” but is “also prepared to assure continuity of care regardless of what decisions the MNA makes.”
Besides voting for a strike authorization, about 200 nurses Thursday demonstrated outside of the library on South Street, joined by family members, friends, and leaders of other unions, including the AFL-CIO, SEIU and the Carpenters Union.
“We are out here because there is something wrong inside the walls of BID-Plymouth,” said Liz Taylor, a nurse and co-chair of the Massachusetts Nurses Association’s bargaining unit at BID-Plymouth. “We are out here and taking this stand under the current staffing conditions in that hospital we simply cannot provide you with the care and the attention that you should expect and should deserve from your hospital.”
The nurses, she added, wanted “to alert the public about what is happening inside that hospital because it is you, our patients, our friends, our neighbors and our families who have the most to lose if we are not successful in achieving the contract we now seek.”
As she spoke, cars honked and bypassers shouted their support. The nurses held signs and a banner that read: “BID Plymouth nurses need safer staffing. Your life depends on it.”
Other nurses and supporters held signs that read, “The nurses are out here. Something is wrong in there,” and “Safe staffing now.”
Despite the situation, the mood was upbeat.
The nurses say they don‘t want to walk off the job, but may have to because they have gotten nowhere in their effort to convince hospital management that heavy patient workloads are compromising care.
To make up for decreased staffing, the union has argued, the hospital has required nurses to float among units, even if they are not trained to care for patients in those units. It has also mandated overtime, they say.
Nurses have been in contract negotiations since October 3, according to Schildmeier. The current contract, which was set to expire in December, has been extended to March 31.
In addition to safer staffing levels, the nurses are also fighting to keep a favored health insurance plan that they say the hospital wants to eliminate. The new plan would increase the cost of family premiums by nearly $3,000 per year, they say.
They are also looking for a “competitive wage increase, that will allow the hospital to recruit the nurses needed to provide appropriate care,” union leaders said.
“We do not want to strike but we also cannot allow the current conditions to continue,” Taylor told the picketers.
State representative Michelle Badger said she supports the nurses’ efforts to negotiate a fair contract.
“Nurses are a crucial part of keeping our community safe and healthy and their work exemplifies the strength and importance of the labor movement in fighting for our community,” Badger said in a statement.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.