Chaotic but brief UMass strike
Nurses blame hospital for 5-hour action over contract language row
WORCESTER -- Nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center stunned hospital officials early yesterday by calling a brief but chaotic strike hours after a verbal contract agreement was reached.
The nurses union called for the walkout 15 minutes before a 6 a.m. strike deadline, saying that the hospital's written version of the tentative settlement contained flaws.
The hospital declared a state of emergency, which included an order that nurses remain at their posts. Some did, but others followed the union's instructions to go on strike, and at least a few left in tears, according to hospital officials.
But the strike ended peacefully less than five hours later after negotiators for the hospital and the Massachusetts Nurses Association ironed out the remaining differences in the three-year contract. All nurses had returned to work by the late afternoon, and hospital officials said patient care was never jeopardized.
The union's nurses will receive 3 percent across-the-board raises annually, in addition to 5 percent "step" increases up to a maximum of 15 steps. Veteran nurses at the top step will receive only the 3 percent increases. Hospital officials said that, on average, the package is worth about 19 percent in salary enhancements over three years.
The nurses' contribution to health insurance premiums will rise from 15 to 20 percent, and they will keep their pension plan, which the hospital had wanted to freeze. New nurses can choose between the pension plan and a defined contribution plan, such as a 401k.
The contract agreement caps 10 months of contentious negotiations. Its outcome indicates that the union, at a time of nursing shortages nationwide, was able to fend off most of the hospital's demands for contract concessions.
Instead of celebrating, both sides were left trying to explain the morning's upheaval.
Hospital administrators blamed frayed nerves, a marathon negotiating session, and the inevitable confusion caused by complex contract language. But the union said the administration made a series of missteps between 3 and 6 a.m. yesterday that resulted in more anxiety than was necessary.
The union singled out a 5:01 a.m. posting on a special website the hospital administration established for the media. It said a verbal agreement had been reached at about 3 a.m., after about 19 hours of nearly constant negotiations.
Union officials said the website posting was premature and violated an agreement that the media and rank-and-file nurses not be notified of the tentative settlement until union officials had approved a written draft.
The union said that at about 5:40 a.m. yesterday they found two sticking points in the hastily prepared draft. Specifically, they said there were problems with language related to pension guarantees and the timing of wage increases. A few minutes later, union leaders called the strike.
"We were horrified," said hospital chief executive John O'Brien .
The walk-out occurred so suddenly that hospital officials did not have replacement workers in position for the 6 a.m. strike deadline. They immediately called a "Level 2" state of emergency, putting in place a series of protocols typically reserved for major medical disasters. The hospital rushed to get about 175 temporary workers into position by 7 a.m.
O'Brien said he toured the hospital with the medical center's president, Dr. Walter H. Ettinger Jr. , at about 6:10 and observed many union nurses leaving the building, though he could not provide a number. He said there was an ample number of nurse supervisors and other managers throughout the 392-bed University Campus complex to make sure patients received adequate care.
There will be no repercussions for the workers who went on strike, O'Brien said.
A union spokesman blamed O'Brien for the roller-coaster series of events, because the hospital went public with the tentative verbal settlement before union officials had signed off. Based on the hospital's website posting, nurses throughout the hospital initially thought a settlement had been reached.
"It was chaos in the hospital, created by John O'Brien," said union spokesman Charles Rasmussen .
Kathy Sullivan , a 26-year veteran of the hospital who works as a nurse in a pediatrics unit, said she was on the phone shortly before 6 a.m. with a hospital colleague who told her to come to work because the contract was settled. Moments later, during the same conversation, the colleague told Sullivan to go to the picket line.
Sullivan blamed the hospital for the confusion. "Management is disrespecting the nurses totally," she said.
Judy Locke , a union representative and member of the negotiating team, said the union did not want to allow the strike deadline to pass while significant points on wages and pension remained unresolved. The strike was intended "to protect our rights," she said.
Even after the written agreement was inked at about 10:30 a.m., relations between the union and management remained strained.
"I don't think anyone was in the mood to shake hands at that point," Locke said. "We just got up and politely left the room."
Christopher Rowland can be reached at crowland@globe.com. 