The union representing nurses at three Ascension hospitals in Texas and Kansas is criticizing the decision to make an in-person children's Christmas concert virtual after its members held one-day strikes.
Members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United, have been in contract negotiations at Ascension via Christi St. Joseph Hospital in Wichita, Kan., and Ascension via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita since February 2023 and at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas, since November 2022. They went on strike on Dec. 6 and will return to work on Dec. 10.
The same day as the strikes, NNU announced that nurses at the Wichita hospitals will host a gift drive for toys and school supplies on Dec. 8 in response to Ascension management's decision regarding a Christmas concert scheduled for that day at the Christi Child Development Center.
The concert was scheduled to take place at the day care center, where employees of Ascension facilities and their families, including union members, have children enrolled. The concert was canceled as an in-person event because Ascension is using the space to train temporary nurses hired to work during and after the strike, according to NNU.
"Given the National Nurses United strike activity taking place on campus, the decision was made to record and share a digital version of our Child Development Center Christmas concert with parents and families this year," an Ascension spokesperson said in a statement shared with Becker's.
"We know Ascension has vast resources at its disposal so management could have found another space to train nurses they have hired to work during the lockout," said Shelly Rader, RN, in the emergency room at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis. "Ascension could also bring us back to work now. We're ready to go."
Ascension has said it is contractually required to commit to a minimum of four days of work for any registered nursing staff replaced during the strike, and union members who were on strike on Dec. 6 were temporarily replaced and will be able to return to their scheduled shifts beginning the morning of Dec. 10.