'It’s time for the MNA to call off the strike,' says St. Vincent CEO after offer of wage hikes and staffing changes

WORCESTER — After declaring an impasse earlier in the week, St. Vincent’s Hospital on Friday said it is implementing its last, best and final offer to nurses — giving them a new contract with increased staffing and raises. 

“We believe that nurses deserve the generous increases and staffing changes that are reflected in our final offer, and therefore we are exercising our right to implement these terms,” St. Vincent Hospital CEO Carolyn Jackson said in an announcement. 

More:St. Vincent Hospital declares impasse in strike talks with nurses

“Implementing our last, best and final offer is excellent news for all current and future St. Vincent nurses,” Jackson continued. “But this also makes clear what we have been saying for months: It’s time for the Massachusetts Nurses Association union) to call off the strike and allow its nurses to come back to work and take advantage of these very generous terms that will be in place on Sunday.”

The contract would begin on Sunday.

The MNA, however, announced it had filed an unfair labor charge with the National Labor Relations Board in response to the hospital’s announcement.

The union alleges the declaration of impasse was “illegal” because it was not made in good faith and is “compromised by its inclusion of an illegal bonus for replacement nurses, and by one or more of the unfair labor practices involving their actions regarding the return of nurses to work.”

“As we mentioned earlier this week, Tenet’s decision has no impact on our strike on a legal or practical level as all it allows Tenet to do is to implement its last offer for those inside the hospital,” Marlena Pellegrino, a longtime St. Vincent Hospital nurse and co-chair of the nurses local bargaining unit with the MNA, said in a statement.

The union called the impasse declaration “just another attempt in the long line of tactics meant to cause division and retaliate against the striking nurses.”

Earlier in the summer, the hospital made a last, best and final offer on Aug. 5, that included raises up to 35% for some nurses, additional staffing and enhanced benefits. 

Striking nurses initially panned the proposal; but when negotiations resumed, the nurses said they were prepared to accept it.

However, the parties could not agree on a return-to-work provision — nurses wanted a provision that would enable them to return to their prior jobs. The hospital said it would not displace permanent replacement nurses that it had hired, although all striking nurses would be guaranteed a job.

Wednesday, the hospital officially declared an “impasse” in negotiations.

An impasse is a labor term and is declared when one or more parties determine that no further progress can be made toward reaching agreement. If the employer declares impasse it can impose terms and conditions. 

Those terms and conditions are the last, best and final offer. It replaces a contract from 2017.

But Pellegrino maintained that the new contract would not result in improved patient care. 

“There will be no improvement in patient care due to this decision, because Tenet cannot provide the staffing needed to safely implement the improvements in patient care we thought we had negotiated in August, as the 700 nurses who could provide that level of care are out on the street, and those replacement nurses inside lack the experience and understanding of our hospital to make it work,” Pellegrino said in the statement.

The hospital encouraged nurses on strike to return to the hospital.

“The last, best and final offer will be in place shortly, and we encourage our nurses to come back to work to receive the enhancements in the new collective bargaining agreement,” the hospital statement concluded.