TAUNTON — Nearly 400 registered nurses and healthcare professionals at Steward's Morton Hospital voted overwhelmingly to have a three-day strike if administrators refuse "to bargain over issues that currently affect their ability to deliver the best possible care to patients."

Massachusetts Nurses Association communications director David Schildmeier said the healthcare workers' strike authorization on May 11 empowers their union's negotiating committee to "achieve a fair settlement." 

"The goal here is not to strike..," he said. "There was a 98% vote for the strike authorization. The nurses have had it."

An MNA summary states the strike authorization follows their filing of "federal unfair labor practice charges" against hospital officials on April 26.

State law requires healthcare unions in hospitals to give their administrators a 10-day notification of a pending strike.

Schildmeier said the union committee would authorize a strike to begin 10 days "after they determine it's necessary."

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MNA bargaining unit vice-chairwoman Jen Roderiques stated hospital management has refused to negotiate about staffing a new 32-bed substance abuse treatment center.

"Staffing it incorrectly will lead to its failure," she stated. "We cannot afford that risk. Negotiating the staffing of MORCAP (Morton Comprehensive Addiction Program) is essential."

The substance abuse treatment unit opened on Nov. 16, 2021, and provides treatment for people struggling with the highest level of addiction to drugs or alcohol. 

The MNA summary also states hospital officials refuse to negotiate about the impact of the medical center's recent disaffiliation with Compass Medical, a physician-owned group.

MNA alleges the hospital's disassociation with Compass Medical "has left hundreds of staff and dependents without access to primary care physicians and specialists."

MNA bargaining unit chairwoman Jacqui Fitts stated her colleagues believe security at the hospital needs improvement.

"As part of contract talks, we have asked that the hospital hire additional security guards," she stated. "We have also proposed… improving lighting outside where patients and staff need to walk and park. These are very basic improvements that will go a long way in keeping patients and staff safe." 

Fitts stated hospital management " refuses to discuss safety and security with us."

"It is a literal non-starter for them," she added. 

The MNA summary states hospital executives have "categorically refused to discuss proposals to protect the staff's physical safety, amidst an increase in violence."

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Fitts stated children being treated in the emergency department don't have adequate security since hospital officials closed a pediatric emergency unit in 2013. 

"We were told that children would never co-mingle with adult patients in the E.D, (and) that there would be distinct space and staff for pediatric E.D. patients," she stated. "That was an empty promise, and now our youngest patients languish in our E.D. alongside adult patients. What they witness in there is awful." 

Hospital officials previously said they closed the pediatric emergency unit because of "low patient volume."

MNA bargaining unit vice-chairperson Cheryl Dutra stated that competition among hospitals for staff is increasingly competitive, and Morton management insists on a five-year contract agreement "that's an unwise and unreasonable time frame."

"We must be able to renegotiate sooner than five years from now," she stated. "We cannot risk losing staff to other hospitals, which will gain a competitive edge over five years while we're locked out of renegotiating contract enhancements. That would cost us, valuable experienced staff."

Hospital management could not be reached for comment on May 12 about MNA's remarks.

Fitts stated, "there is no reason for the hospital to refuse to negotiate over basic and essential improvements."

"Management may think they are playing hardball, but they really are not listening to the people they count on," she stated. "Ultimately, management's decisions and their approach at the bargaining table will hurt a community that was already struggling. We see through them, and the community does too. It is time for management to do the right thing and to negotiate in good faith."