Nurses plan to use their collective strength as union members to make improvements to patient safety and secure professional respect
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Framingham Union Hospital nurses have exercised their right to unionize, voting overwhelmingly on Wednesday, January 10 to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association. This successful election enables the nurses to work together to improve patient care conditions and advocate for the professional respect they deserve.
“Caring for patients in a hospital has never been more challenging and complex,” said Framingham Union RN Paivi Ratu-Rodriguez. “Our election victory gives us the power to make positive changes that benefit our patients, the working environment of our colleagues, and our entire community.”
“We are thrilled to have our union!” said Framingham Union RN Adam Crawford. “Framingham Union nurses now have a strong and independent voice to address the patient safety issues we face daily. As union nurses, will use our legal rights to improve care conditions and our nursing practice.”
Approximately 280 Framingham Union nurses participated in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after filing a petition with the NLRB in September 2023. The vote count was 188 MNA yes to 37 no. Nurses overcame attempts at union-busting and a months-long delay because of an appeal filed by hospital owner Tenet Healthcare. Following the NLRB election, nurses will establish local union guidelines, vote for their elected leaders and bargaining committee, and begin determining proposals for first contract negotiations.
The main themes nurses identified for why they wanted to join the MNA included:
- To improve nurses’ ability to provide quality safe patient care.
- To promote a safe and healthy working environment.
- To revive and preserve a sense of pride, morale, and respect in their community hospital.
- To feel valued, treated with respect as a profession and satisfaction in their work.
“An overwhelming majority of Registered Nurses at Framingham Union Hospital have decided that we would like to have a real and independent voice on all decisions that affect us, the work we do and the patients we take care of,” the nurses wrote in a letter they delivered to the hospital CEO in September. “We would like to be real partners with you in setting priorities for our workplace and ensuring a healthy future for Framingham.”
The MNA is the largest union and professional organization of nurses and healthcare professionals in Massachusetts. It represents 25,000 members in healthcare facilities across the state, including nurses at more than 70 percent of the Commonwealth’s acute care hospitals. The MNA is led by a board of directors that is directly elected by its membership and consists of front-line nurses and other healthcare professionals.
-###-
MassNurses.org │ Facebook.com/MassNurses │ Twitter.com/MassNurses │ Instagram.com/MassNurses
____________________________________________
Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
