Framingham Union Nurses to Hold Press Conference Wednesday, November 15 to Advocate for their Right to Vote for a Union as Hospital Owner Tenet Healthcare Delays Amid Government Shutdown Worries

Framingham Union Hospital nurses filed for a union election in September to improve patient safety and secure professional respect

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Nov. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With a federal government shutdown looming that could impact National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) activity, nurses at Framingham Union Hospital will speak publicly on November 15 about their right to vote in a union election to protect patient care and gain the professional respect they deserve.

More than two months after filing with the NLRB for an election to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association on September 12, Framingham Union nurses are still awaiting their opportunity to vote. Tenet Healthcare, the Texas-based for-profit that owns the hospital, has been trying to strip nurses of their right to form a union. Nurses will speak up during a press conference on Wednesday about how they deserve a vote so they can exercise their strong, united voice to improve conditions for patients, nurses, and their colleagues.

Press Conference Details
Date: Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: On Lincoln Street outside Framingham Union Hospital in Framingham, MA
Speakers: Nurses and community supporters

Tenet has engaged in union-busting activities inside Framingham Union Hospital, including holding one-on-one meetings with nurses and posting misinformation on bulletin boards. The company – infamous for its numerous federal sanctions over the years totaling nearly $2 billion – has also tried to delay the Framingham Union election by filing a frivolous appeal to the NLRB in Washington, DC. Recently, Tenet at MetroWest Medical Center settled an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB. The MNA filed a charge against Tenet for having an employee handbook that violated the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB settlement required Tenet to remove the illegal handbook rules and post a notice affirming employees' rights at MetroWest Medical Center.

There are approximately 280 nurses eligible to be part of the union at Framingham Union. The NLRB will determine eligibility and set the election date. As part of their election filing, the nurses held a press conference September 12 after a supermajority of nurses signed union cards.

"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 to the CEO. "We would like to be real partners with you in setting priorities for our workplace and ensuring a healthy future for Framingham."

The main themes nurses have identified for why they are joining the MNA include:

• To improve nurses' ability to provide safe, quality 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.

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.

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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.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association