Worcester Independent Socialist Group (ISG) stands in solidarity with union nurses at St. Vincent hospital who voted Wednesday to authorize a strike. Workers everywhere, including essential nurses, have real power in the workplace, and using that power is the only reliable way to win adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), safe staffing ratios, and COVID-19 protections. St. Vincent’s nurses have been struggling for all of these basic workplace safety procedures since the pandemic started. These are vital issues in the new contract negotiations between the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) and Tenet Healthcare, the hospital corporation. Tenet Healthcare has repeatedly shown complete disregard for healthcare workers’ safety and wellbeing. This includes Tenet hoarding federal and state COVID-19 emergency funds while laying off nurses and failing to purchase adequate PPE. ISG calls on other labor and community groups to join us in offering active solidarity including joining the picket and the strike—if one is called—and raising strike funds.
You can join the nurses picketing outside St. Vincent’s every day from 3:30-4:30 PM!
Check out a recent ISG interview with picketing nurses: https://fb.watch/3CCU7bFzDN/
Read the MNA’s statement, which details the background of the crisis and the fight for better conditions for nurses and patients.
Image credit: Massachusetts Nurses Association via Facebook
Independent Socialist Group 