Newton-Wellesley RNs Plan to Strike in 10 Days

Nurses at Newton Wellesley Hospital say they are outraged by their employer’s demands to “shortchange patients and nurses while posting more than $600 million in profits.”

And they plan to strike about it.

Registered nurses at the hospital issued the required 10-day notice of their intent to strike, for a day, on June 30, “in response to deteriorating patient care conditions and demands by Partners Health Care to cut their benefits in the wake of posting more than a half billion dollars in profits,” according to an announcement.

According to the nurses, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, contract talks have stalled as Partners has “decreased core RN staffing levels on a number of floors and increased the floating of nurses to cover for staffing shortages -- a dangerous plan that is creating unsafe patient assignments for nurses, while also depriving patients of the specialized care they need to be safe during their hospital stay.”

The nurses said in a release that their concerns about patient care have increased in recent months, and that the hospital has made potentially dangerous cuts to staffing, both in the emergency department and the maternity unit. Additionally, they argue that the hospital seeks to boost profits by cutting insurance and time off.

According to the nurses, Partners HealthCare generated more than $9 billion in revenues and posted profits of more than $600 million, with nearly $100 million “stashed in offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands. “ Its top CEOs make $14 million in salary.

“No nurse wants to strike, but we have no other option as Partners’ management continues to refuse to heed our concerns for the safety of our patients and the dignity of our nurses in the wake of unprecedented and unwarranted cuts to RN staffing levels,” said Laurie Andersen, co-chair of the MNA Local Bargaining Unit and a nurse in the emergency department at the hospital, in a statement. “There is no justification for management’s positions in these negotiations. They are making enormous profits, and they are doing it on the backs of the nurses and other caregivers who work so hard to make this hospital a success. Our patients and our nurses should not be shortchanged to satisfy Partner’s corporate greed.”