UMMMC Contract Alert!
ONE-DAY STRIKE AUTHORIZATION VOTE SCHEDULED!
When: Thursday, April 11 from 6:30 a.m.— 8 p.m.
Where: Coral Seafood Restaurant, 225 Shrewsbury St., Worcester
After 14 months of negotiations, and management’s continued refusal to agree to any meaningful improvement in dangerous staffing conditions, as well as their continued demands for significant cuts to nurses pension, health insurance and time-off benefits, the joint negotiating committee for both campuses last night announced the date for a one-day strike authorization vote, which will be held throughout the day on April 11 at Coral Seafood in Worcester. The announcement was met with a standing ovation by hundreds of members attending open meetings last night, and followed the presentation of the latest information coming out of negotiation sessions held on Monday and Tuesday. “We have been extremely patient, and have given management every opportunity to do the right thing, but they continue to refuse to heed our pleas for safe staffing to protect our patients,” said Colleen Wolfe, co-chair of the UMass Memorial Bargaining Unit. “The time has come to make a stand for our patients and our profession.” According to Ellen Smith, co-chair of UMass University campus bargaining unit, “As nurses, it is our responsibility to advocate for our patients and this vote is an important step to show management that we will do whatever it takes to protect our patients.”
The vote on April 11 will be conducted by secret ballot, where all members in good standing are eligible to vote. You must vote in person at Coral Seafood, and a successful vote calls for a majority of members voting in each bargaining unit to vote in favor of the one-day strike authorization. Remember, a yes vote does not mean we will be going out on strike immediately. It gives your committees the authority to call a strike if and when they feel it is necessary. There are negotiating sessions scheduled for April 12, 17, 23 and 24 and we hope that management will negotiate in good faith to reach a settlement. If they don’t, the committee could then call for a strike, and at that point, the law requires at least 10 days notice before we would conduct our one day strike. For more information on the strike and vote , visit the UMass bargaining unit pages to review our one-day strike primer, or to speak with one of the committee members listed on this bulletin.
What You Can Do
In the meantime, we encourage all members to stand together and to show their solidarity for this cause by:
Wearing black and/or blue scrubs every Wednesday, what we are calling MNA Black and Blue Day, to show our solidarity as nurses stand up against management’s dangerous staffing practices and onerous contract proposals.
Wearing your “UMMMC Nurses Stronger Together” and the new “I Will” Button every day.
Staying informed by signing up for our email blasts, or by visiting and joining our "University Messenger" Facebook group page, located at: https://www.facebook.com/massnurses#!/groups/152126544939667/?fref=t or our " Memorial-Hahnemann Messenger Facebook group page, located at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/529295190425023/?fref=ts.
VOTE YES ON APRIL 11 !!!!
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