Will tell for-profit giant to honor its commitments and end culture of corporate greed that harms nurses and their patients
BOSTON, Mass. – Outraged MNA nurses and health professionals from eight hospitals owned and operated by Cerberus/Steward Health Care will gather outside the for-profit giant’s corporate headquarters in Boston on Friday, Oct. 28 at 1:30 p.m. to tell Steward leadership that it must honor its commitments, keep its promises and put an end to oppressive practices that harm nurses/health professionals and the patients under their care at Cerberus/Steward hospitals across the state.
WHERE: Dewey Square, Occupy Boston AND 500 Boylston St., Cerberus/Steward Headquarters
TIME: 12:15 p.m. at Dewey Square, Boston AND 1:30 p.m. at 500 Boylston St., Boston
WHO: Protesters will include delegations of nurses from Cerberus/Steward owned hospitals in the state including, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Brighton, Norwood Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Quincy Medical Center, Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Holy Family Hospital in Methuen and Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents 3000 registered nurses and health professionals who work at eight hospitals owned and operated by Cerberus/Steward Health Care, have been fighting for months to get the for-profit giant to honor its commitments and keep its promises, including a highly publicized contractual agreement to provide nurses with a defined benefit pension plan. In addition to Steward’s reneging on the pension agreement, the nurses are also protesting the hospital’s oppressive management practices, including the firing of nurses and union advocates without just cause, the refusal to provide appropriate staffing and the recent threats to eliminate essential services in retaliation for the nurses’ demand that the hospital honor its agreements. The events take place the day after the MNA and Cerberus/Steward begin hearings before an arbitrator over the issue of the nurses’ pension.
Despite the promises made to continue services in its voracious acquisition of Massachusetts hospitals, Cerberus/Steward is now using the threat of closure of these same facilities in order to justify its refusal to honor its agreements with its nurses. Cerberus/Steward is taking these actions despite the fact that Cerberus/Steward’s parent company, Cerberus Capitol Management, is one of the most powerful, multi-billion dollar private equity firms on Wall Street.
As part of the day’s events, the nurses will make a stop at the Occupy Boston site in Dewey Square, drawing attention to the fact that Cerberus/Steward, exemplifies the unbridled corporate greed that has caused the current financial crisis and the undermining of the middle class.
For more information, contact David Schildmeier at 781-249-0430.
