Attention MNA Members, Supporters and Activists!
The Merrimack Valley Hospital Nurses Need Your Support!
Merrimack Valley Hospital Nurses' Candlelight Vigil
January 8, 2003, 4 - 7 pm
140 Lincoln Avenue, Haverhill, Massachusetts
Sidewalk in front of Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill
Candles will be provided
Merrimack Valley Hospital RNs To Hold Candlelight Vigil on Jan. 8th from 4 -
7 pm
As Contract Talks Stall Over Salary, Health Insurance and Overtime Issues
Massachusetts Nurses Association, January 3, 2002
Haverhill, Mass. - Registered nurses at Merrimack Valley Hospital in
Haverhill will hold a candlelight vigil outside the entrance to the facility
at 140 Lincoln Ave. on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003 from 4 - 7 pm, as contract
talks continue to stall over salary, health insurance and the hospital's
refusal to pay nurse for overtime after working their full shift. The 100 MVH
nurses, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, have
been negotiating their first union contract with Essent Health Care, the
Tennessee-based for-profit corporation that purchased what was formerly known
as Hale Hospital from the City of Haverhill in September of 2001. In taking
over the hospital, Essent refused to maintain the terms of the nurses'
existing union contract until a new one could be negotiated. The MVH nurses
have enjoyed the benefits and protections of a union contract for more than
30 years, making their collective bargaining unit one of the oldest in
Massachusetts. The process has taken more than 15 months and more than 45
negotiating sessions to date. The last round of talks was held on Jan. 6th,
with little movement on the key outstanding issues that serve as stumbling
blocks to an agreement. Those issues include the hospital's refusal to
reinstate a stepped salary scale for the nurses that grants nurses a pay
increase for each year of service. Salary scales are a standard feature of
every MNA union contract in the Commonwealth and had been a feature of the
former Hale contract for decades. According to local bargaining vice chair
and intensive care unit nurse Jeanine Hickey, RN, "We are angry and
frustrated that Essent has shown such little regard for the nurses of this
hospital, particularly the most experienced nurses, who deserve to be
rewarded for their service and valuable expertise. Salary scales provide an
excellent means of retaining quality staff and maintaining quality patient
care by rewarding longevity and keeping experienced nurses on staff. At a
time of a critical nursing shortage, when hospitals across the state are
scrambling to attract and retain experienced, highly qualified nurses,
Essent's position on this issue makes absolutely no sense." In addition to
the salary issue, management is refusing to grant the nurses time-and-one
half overtime pay for work performed beyond eight hours. At the same time,
the nurses have been struggling to convince the hospital to limit the use of
mandatory (i.e. forced) overtime as a mechanism to staff the hospital. The
hospital has also sought the right to cancel a nurses' shift at their sole
discretion, forcing the nurse to use vacation time to make up for the lost
time. Both parties have made movement on the shift cancellation and mandatory
overtime issue in the most recent sessions, but they point to the hospital's
desire to implement such policies as evidence of the lack of respect for
nurses demonstrated by Essent throughout this arduous process. The nurses
balk at these positions in light of the exceptional work of the nurses with
the City of Haverhill and Essent to ensure the hospital's survival. "We have
suffered below market pay rates and voluntarily limited our benefits to
ensure this hospital's survival on behalf of this community. We worked hard
to save the hospital and we are working even harder to ensure that this
hospital continues to provide quality patient care to those who need it. All
the nurses want is a fair contract with basic employment rights enjoyed by
all other nurses in the Commonwealth," Hickey explained. Finally, the
hospital is demanding that the nurses accept an inferior health insurance
plan that would be administered through the Essent Corporation or pay
significantly higher premiums to maintain the same level of health insurance.
The MVH contract dispute comes at a time when the health care industry is in
the midst of a growing national shortage of nurses, which was driven by a
decade where nurses saw a dramatic increase in their patient assignments, a
deterioration of their working conditions, and pay rates that have remained
virtually flat. Here in Massachusetts, hospitals are now scrambling to
recruit sufficient numbers of registered nurses from a very small pool of
nurses still willing to work under current conditions. Nurses, frustrated
with their pay and working conditions, are moving from facility to facility
in search of the best environment. "We have fought long and hard for a
contract that does everything hospitals are attempting to do in the face of a
nursing shortage, which is to retain a high quality nursing staff," said
Hickey. "If they weaken our contract and fail to bring us in line with
competing hospitals, we are in danger of losing valuable staff, which will
impact the quality of care we deliver."
DIRECTIONS TO MERRIMACK VALLEY HOSPITAL
140 Lincoln Avenue, Haverhill, Massachusetts
From Worcester Area and 495: Take Route 495 North for about 40 miles to exit
48 (Route 125/Bradford/Ward Hill). Go to the second set of lights and take a
left onto Route 125 North. Follow straight through the center of Bradford
until you go over the bridge. At the lights at the end of the bridge take a
right onto Water St. You will then come to an intersection and a set of
lights; bear right at the lights and continue straight through the next set
of lights until you come to the Haverhill stadium on your right. The hospital
entrance is on the left. The gathering point will be the church on your left.
From Canton and Boston areas heading north on Route 95: Heading north on
Route 95 take exit 54 (Route 133 Georgetown/Groveland). Head west towards
Georgetown; go through Georgetown Square and continue going straight for
about 5-6 miles into Groveland Center. Bear slightly to the left and go over
the Groveland Bridge. Take a left at the end of the bridge and go straight
for about 0.7 miles. The entrance to the hospital is on the right but go just
beyond that entrance to the church where we will gather.
From Route 93: Take 93 North to the exit for Route 495 (Lawrence) and then
exit 48 (Route 125/ Ward Hill/Bradford) and follow directions listed above
under the Worcester directions.
David Schildmeier, Director of Public Communications
Massachusetts Nurses Association, 340 Turnpike Street, Canton, MA 02021
800-882-2056 x717 (Within Mass. only)
781-830-5717, 781-821-4445 (fax), 781-249-0430 (cell phone), 508-426-1655
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