Striking nurses get support from mayor, lawmakers
Nurses picketing outside Tufts Medical Center for a fourth day on Saturday got support from Mayor Martin J. Walsh and two state congressmen, Stephen Lynch and Michael Capuano.
Walsh, a former leader of the building trades union, told the crowd he was concerned because he doesn’t see an end in sight to negotiations between the nurses union and hospital management.
He called on both sides to sit down and work out an agreement as the nurses return to work Monday, following their one-day strike midweek and a five-day lockout by management.
“Without the hospital, you don’t have nurses, and without nurses, you don’t have a hospital,’’ Walsh told the crowd of about 500 nurses and supporters.
Lynch, a former iron workers union president, said his family has long received health care at Tufts and that he has been speaking with both sides during negotiations.
“It’s the nurses that are the backbone of our health care system in America today,’’ Lynch told the crowd.
In a statement Saturday morning, Tufts officials said that they are hopeful that they can reach agreement with the nurses so the can be once again “solely focused on patients and their families.’’
But, the statement said, “There are limits to what we can offer and what we can afford because of what we are paid. Our situation is further challenged by the uncertainty in Washington over health care policy.’’
Walsh, who campaigned for mayor on his labor credentials, had offered to help mediate and end the standoff — over salary, pensions, and staffing — between the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Tufts.
The nurses union welcomed his involvement, according to Ryan Berard, the labor group’s associate director of government and legislation, who noted Walsh’s role last year in thwarting a strike at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In that case, the mayor was invited by Brigham president Dr. Elizabeth Nablem and he took on the role of an unofficial mediator, working around the clock last year to help avert a massive strike.
In the Tufts dispute, Walsh has publicly urged both sides to come to the table and continued to do so Saturday. His demonstration of support for the nurses is a decidedly good political move for the mayor, who is seeking a second term later this year.
The nurses union endorsed Walsh in his first campaign in 2013. His chief opponent, City Councilor Tito Jackson, was on the picket line earlier in the week.
Shortly before Walsh spoke at at the rally, protesters chanted,’’Hey hey what do you say? MNA is here to stay,’’ using the initials of the Mass. Nurses Association.
Nurse Patty Serbia said nurses went on strike Wednesday not only to push for a better contract, but to call attention to patient care in the hospital.
“It’s been declining for years,’’ Serbia, who has worked at Tufts 29 years.
Marilyn Marsh, who also has worked as a Tufts nurse for 29 years, said she was concerned about bringing in replacement staff during the strike and lockout.
“We care for a lot of high-risk patients. It’s not normal ICUs, it’s not normal labor and deliveries,’’ said Marsh.
Serbia and Marsh said they want to go back to work.
“We feel terrible. We know they must be struggling,’’ Serbia said of Tufts during the strike and lockout.
Earlier Saturday morning, hundreds walked the picket line while Tufts Medical Center Police and private security stood by the doors.
Picketers cheered as an occasional driver passing by blew a car horn.
Among those walking the picket line was Ellen LeBlanc, a nurse who has worked at Tufts for 20 years. She said nurses — who were blocked from returning to work following a 24-hour strike that ended at 7 a.m. Thursday — want to be back on the job.
“We want to be back. Who wants to be out here? This is outrageous,’’ she said.
LeBlanc characterized Tufts’ negotiating posture as only issuing ultimatums and telling nurses that “’you have to accept this.’’’
She said her message to management was simple: “Can you just come back to the table?’’
