Boston could see its first nurses strike in more than 30 years if Tufts Medical Center workers decide to walk off the job amid increasingly tense contract negotiations, reports The Boston Globe.
Boston-based Tufts has been in negotiations with the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents approximately 1,200 hospital nurses, for more than a year.
Hospital officials have made what they say is their final offer, but the MNA is calling on nurses to reject the deal when they cast their votes on the proposal on Thursday, according to the report.
Tufts CEO Michael Wagner, MD, told the Boston Business Journal the hospital has budgeted $30 million to spend on a new four-year labor deal nurses.
In its proposed labor deal, Tufts seeks to shift approximately 340 nurses who get a pension into a defined contribution plan known as a 403b, according to The Boston Globe. Hospital officials told The Boston Globe Tufts has also offered a 10.5 percent raise over the contract term to nurses at the high end of the pay scale, which includes more than 60 percent of all nurses. All other nurses, the report states, would receive a 5.5 percent raise during that period, in addition to annual step raises.
"I have to look at the entire organization and look at what's in the best interests to create a sustainable platform," Dr. Wagner told the Boston Business Journal. "What's been put on the table by the Massachusetts Nurses Association wouldn't be responsible for them or us."
But Tufts nurses said the hospital's offer doesn't go far enough with pay raises, as their wages are not competitive with other area hospitals, according to the Boston Business Journal. Nurses also contend in the report their retirement contributions are on the low end compared to many others in Massachusetts, which Tufts refutes.
Negotiations between the two sides are slated to continue June 12, reports the Boston Business Journal. However, nurses have already voted to authorize the bargaining committee to call for a strike at any time. The union, by law, would need to give the hospital 10 days before going out on strike.
Tufts is preparing for such a situation. The hospital so far has spent $1 million for a staffing agency to provide temporary nurses in the event a walkout occurs, and leaders said Tufts would shell out an additional $5 million to bring in specialized replacement nurses if the MNA provides a 10-day strike notice, according to The Boston Globe.
Although the strike would last one day, Tufts would not schedule union nurses during the following four days because the hospital said it is required to pay replacement nurses for a minimum of five days, according to the report. Hospital officials told The Boston Globe a union nurse who crosses the picket line on the first day will be able to stay on the job throughout the strike.
However, the hospital said if a strike notice is given, it will need to take the costs of preparing for the strike out of the final financial package offered to the nurses.