The Massachusetts healthcare community – which has seen its share of spirited but civil debates – was taken aback last week when it was revealed that the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) had sent out an e-mail directive to its members at Tufts Medical Center asking them to strike at a time that is “most harmful to the hospital.” The MNA and Tufts Medical Center have been embroiled in a contract dispute.
That the MNA would try to financially destabilize a hospital from which it is trying to extract more money as part of its negotiations was seen by many as irresponsible. That the union’s leadership was putting itself before the hospital’s patients that could be harmed by a strike timed to be “most harmful” to TMC was unreasonable.
Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi wrote of the MNA’s e-mail missives and threatening Facebook postings, “That’s bitter union medicine, applied not to a factory making parts but to a hospital treating people,” adding, “Interrupting patient care is a risk that everyone, including the union, should work hard to avoid — stat.”
MHA, asked for comment on the MNA’s actions, said, “The MNA union leadership continues to take a hostile approach to interactions with the hospitals that employ its nurses. This is unfortunate, unnecessary and wrong. It not only harms hospitals, but has the potential to disrupt care.”