UMass nurses set to strike

About 850 nurses are preparing to strike tomorrow at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, raising the prospect of the first strike at a Massachusetts hospital since nurses waged a 103-day walk out in 2001 at Brockton Hospital .

Hospital negotiators and representatives of the Massachusetts Nurses Association were scheduled to hold a final meeting at 10 a.m. today. But yesterday the two sides remained far apart on wage, healthcare, and pension issues and were making preparations for a strike to begin at 6 a.m. tomorrow.

UMass Memorial -- the biggest hospital in Central Massachusetts -- has contracted with a San Francisco firm to use 350 temporary replacement nurses from around the country.

The temporary workers will bunk in local hotels and be bused across picket lines for their shifts at the hospital's University Campus, the only one of three UMass Memorial campuses in Worcester that would be affected.

In addition to the 392-bed University Campus facility, UMass Memorial includes the 319-bed Memorial Campus and the Hahnemann Campus outpatient center.

Hospital officials said they would continue to run at full capacity and offer all services during a strike, from emergency room care to transplants. The hospital said it will be able to replace a nursing staff of 850 with 350 temporary workers because the replacements would all be full time, while much of the regular work force is part time.

"We are the safety net hospital for Central Massachusetts, and our goal is to continue to operate as we are now," said Dr. Walter H. Ettinger Jr. , the hospital's president.

"Only the future will tell what effect this will have on our volume," he said. "Everyone in our community would like to have a fair resolution to this dispute. We do not want a strike -- a strike is a lose-lose. Nobody wins in a strike."

The hospital hinted that if nurses stop working, it would go to court to seek a declaration that a strike is illegal.

The union has set up a "strike headquarters" within walking distance of the hospital, and a rally is scheduled for tonight. Union officials said some nurses have already found temporary jobs elsewhere. The nurses, who overwhelmingly authorized a strike Sept. 27, seem resigned to a work stoppage, said union representative Kathie Logan .

"Right now, it's very solemn," she said. "I think people are sad."

UMass Memorial made a profit of $94 million in 2005 and has a projected profit of $35 million for this year.

The hospital has asked for a series of concessions from the nurses union, saying it needs to trim benefits and slow wage increases to remain competitive. The hospital said the average nurse working a 40-hour week makes $107,000 a year. It says it inherited excessively generous nursing contracts from past hospital administrations, including the University of Massachusetts system, which ran the University Campus as the primary teaching hospital for the UMass Medical School until a 1998 merger created the nonprofit UMass Memorial.

Officials initially sought to freeze fixed pension benefits and move nurses to a defined-contribution retirement plan such as a 401(k). It has since softened its position to keep the pension plan intact for current nurses and set up a 401(k) for new hires. It also wants to increase the nurses' share of healthcare premiums from 15 to 20 percent for full-time nurses, and from 15 to 25 percent for part-time nurses. Also at issue is language about sick days, holidays, and job security.

The union said yesterday it will not make any concessions, a position it has maintained since talks began in December and the contract expired in April.

"What's going to have to happen [to avert a strike] is management is going to have to provide a modest cost of living raise and take the rest of the concessions off the table," Logan said. "I believe the hospital came to the table demanding concessions for one reason, and that is to break the union, and that is not going to happen."

Christopher Rowland can be reached at crowland@globe.com.