By Lane Lambert
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Apr 01, 2010 @ 04:32 PM
QUINCY – Quincy Medical Center’s registered nurses have filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the hospital and are threatening to picket if the hospital board doesn’t resume negotiations over pay and benefit concessions.
Paula Ryan, a longtime Quincy Medical nurse, says the hospital’s board of trustees has declared an impasse after only six sessions since February 18, when bargaining for a new nurse union contract began. The previous contract expired on Wednesday.
Ryan said nurses and the Massachusetts Nurses Association filed the complaint on Wednesday, after getting a letter from the board that said the hospital would impose a wage cut and other measures on Sunday.
Ryan noted that under federal law one party of a contract negotiation can’t unilaterally declare an impasse. A federal mediator joined the last bargaining session on March 24.
Hospital officials couldn’t be immediately reached for comment about the nurses’ action or contract issues.
The nurses’ union is planning to hold an information picket outside the hospital the afternoon of April 13.
The nurses’ complaint comes a day after the hospital announced that president and chief executive officer Dr. Gary Gibbons is stepping down, and that a recently-begun clinical affiliation with South Shore Hospital is ending.
Trustees said those moves are part of a plan to restructure the hospital’s services and close a $4.5 million budget deficit.
The hospital wants to cut wages 3 percent, raise employees’ share of health insurance premiums 5 percent, and continue a freeze on pension benefit contributions.
Lane Lambert may be reached at llambert@ledger.com.
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