Striking Worcester Nurses Agree To Offer, But Jobs Now At Issue

WORCESTER, MA — Nurses in Worcester have agreed to accept a proposal from St. Vincent Hospital to end the six-month strike, but a new issue has emerged keeping the two sides apart: how to return striking nurses to their previous roles.

The two sides met in secret over four days this week, and negotiations ended with the nurses accepting an offer to boost staffing inside the hospital. But when the talks turned to returning the nurses to work, the two sides could not agree, according to dueling statements released Thursday.

Tenet Healthcare, the for-profit corporation that owns St. Vincent Hospital, said that about 15 percent of striking nurses may not be able to return to their previous jobs. The hospital hired permanent replacement nurses during the strike.

"St. Vincent Hospital informed the MNA that it would guarantee that every striking nurse, without exception, who wants to return to a job, will have one available for them if they choose to take it," Tenet spokeswoman Shelly Weiss Friedberg said in a news release. "As to returning to a specific role or shift ... about 85 percent who return will get their exact job and shift back. For the remaining 15 percent, we have committed to work with the MNA to try and resolve these situations once a return to work agreement is in place."

The MNA said back-to-work provisions are standard after strikes. Tenet said those provisions are for strikes that "last from a few days to a few weeks at most."

"The goal for the nurses in reaching the agreement was to end the rancor of the past months, and for both parties to begin the work of restoring stability to the facility to provide quality care to the patients at this critical time," the MNA statement said, noting the new surge in COVID-19 cases impacting local hospitals.

The two sides will return to negotiations Monday with a federal mediator, according to the MNA.