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| A socialist newsweekly published in the interests of working people Vol. 64/No. 25  June 26, 2000
Massachusetts nurses beat back forced overtime BY SARAH ULLMAN AND TED LEONARD WORCESTER, Massachusetts--After seven weeks on the picket line members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) won their first contract and beat back the hospital bosses' attempt to impose forced overtime. "The patients will have much better care, much safer care because of the strike," explained Janet Green at a union-sponsored victory celebration at a local night club here. Green has been a nurse for 21 years at St. Vincent's Hospital (SVH). The nurses voted 358-5 to ratify a three-year contract May 18. All nurses will receive a $1.50 per hour raise the first year and a 4 percent across-the-board hike the second year. The biggest issue in the strike was the hospital's demand for the right to require a nurse to work an additional eight hours at the end of an eight-hour shift, whenever the hospital officials deemed it necessary. The new contract limits mandatory overtime to no more than four hours twice every three months or eight times per year. The agreement also gives union members the right to refuse specific overtime assignments. The pact provides nurses with a voice in decisions around staffing and nursing practice issues, calls for the phaseout of a controversial flex time policy, and provides the nurses with some input in issues related to the hospital's move into the new Worcester Medical Center facility. The 49-day strike was immensely popular among working people in Worcester and across the state. On May 6, the first day of "Nurse's Week," the MNA organized a rally in front of the hospital. "Nurses from 23 hospitals across the state and nurses from California, Rhode Island, and Michigan participated," said David Schildmeier, communications director of the MNA. "No forced overtime," "Patients not Profits," read some of the signs at the rally. After the contract was ratified the nurses discovered that state government officials had been cooperating with the hospital to expedite the certification of out-of-state nurses to cross the picket line. The scab nurses were being certified in 72 hours. A number of picket lines were organized where 50 to 100 unionists from the area would participate. Jackets, caps, T-shirts, and banners identified workers from various unions, including the United Steelworkers of America, postal workers, United Auto Workers, Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, and others. More than 80 members of UNITE Local 311 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, sent a letter to the striking nurses telling them, "We send you our solidarity and you should know that you are taking an important stand for all working people." Sarah Ullman is a member of the United Transportation Union, Ted Leonard is a member of UNITE.
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