Margarita M. Phillips 
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The mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts is calling on the parent company of Saint Vincent Hospital to end the ongoing nurses’ strike.
“Be clear, this strike must end, and it must end now,” said Mayor Joseph Petty, joining the growing chorus of strike calls after nearly seven months.
The problem has put the number of hospital beds in the community at a critical level during a health crisis.
“Because local hospital management seem unable to negotiate a fair end to the strike, I hereby call on Dr Saum Sutaria, Managing Director of Tenet Healthcare in Dallas, to travel to Worcester as soon as possible to negotiate. good faith, â€Petty said.
The mayor berated Tenet Healthcare for its current return-to-work plan that would not ensure nurses can return to their previous jobs.
“These demands are unprecedented and violate standard practice in all strikes and the high labor standards we expect from all employers in our city,†said Petty.
“There is nothing illegal or inappropriate about what we do,†said Carolyn Jackson, CEO of Saint Vincent Hospital.
Jackson says senior executives at Tenet’s head office in Dallas have already been at the bargaining table, and she says they agree they need to support the 205 permanent nurses who have taken up positions.
“The MP is not willing to discuss creative alternatives, so it doesn’t matter who is on the other side of the negotiating table,†Jackson said. “If the member does not want to compromise, we are going to be at a standstill.”
But striking nurses say prioritizing replacements over nurses who have spent years in specialist departments makes no sense.
“That you’re going to honor months for years, it’s just, I don’t know, it’s just a tactic,†said Sondra Thomas, a striking nurse in the cardiac care unit.
“We have the beds here,” said Kilsi Espinosa, another striking nurse. “Just give us back our jobs and we’ll help the community.” “
Jackson declined to say whether the Tenet Healthcare business manager would travel to Worcester, at the mayor’s request.
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