In a crowded, diverse mayoral field, where does Marty Walshâs base go?
By Danny McDonald Globe Staff,Updated May 7, 2021, 5:33 p.m.
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In 2017, Martin J. Walsh kicked off his reelection campaign outside Florian Hall in Dorchester.JohnTlumacki
Martin J. Walshâs ascension from City Hall to US labor secretary not only triggered a crowded scramble in this yearâs mayorâs race but also raised the question of which candidate might inherit the voter base that powered the Dorchester Democratâs victories.
While dozens of labor groups â Teamsters, painters, pipefitters â endorsed Walsh when he was running for mayor, providing his campaign with an army of volunteers, their support appears to be fracturing in this election.
Tenet Healthcare refuses to shift on staffing ratios at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts
May 6 marked the 60th day on strike for the nurses of St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. They have been on strike since March 8, fighting for better patient outcomes and a safer workplace, particularly in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
The central demands of nurses are that patient assignments on all medical-surgical units be capped at four patients to every one nurse and that two additional nurse units be maintained to respond to overflow and critical cases.
Nurses on the picket line at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts (Credit: MNA Facebook)
Tenet Healthcare declines offer from Saint Vincent Hospital’s nurses to continue negotiations on Friday, strike likely to enter 10th week
Updated May 07, 2021;
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Any momentum in the talks between Tenet Healthcare and the nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital appeared to evaporate by the end of the week. It caps a period that saw the two sides meet three times in a span of 10 days.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association on Friday said that Tenet, the Dallas-based parent company of Saint Vincent Hospital, declined the nurse’s offer to return to the negotiating table on Friday.
A mediator informed the nurses on Thursday that Tenet would not meet on Friday, and will not meet until the nurses agree to compromise on their call for safer staffing.
WORCESTER Negotiations between St. Vincent Hospital leaders and striking nurses appear to be at a stalemate again as the hospital declined an offer to resume talks Friday.
“We decided we did not want to meet today, because there is really no reason to talk until they are willing to be reasonable with their proposal,” St. Vincent Hospital CEO Carolyn Jackson said in an interview Friday.
The nurses, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said they were “disheartened.”
“We were very disheartened that Tenet is refusing to continue to negotiate to address our concerns so that we can end this strike and return to the bedside where we can provide our patients with the care and dignity they expect and deserve,” Marlena Pellegrino, a longtime nurse at the hospital and co-chair of the nurses local bargaining unit, said in a press release Friday.
Registered Nurses and supporters stand in a picket line and wave to cars as they drive by outside St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts on February 24, 2021. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)
Nurses and officials at St. Vincent Hospital are still undergoing negotiations to resolve a strike that has carried into a third month.
Both parties restarted negotiations Wednesday morning, with the talks continuing into the evening.
Nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association union, are advocating for a 1:4 nurse to patient ratio on medical/surgical floors and telemetry units, increased staffing in the emergency department, and ancillary support in each unit.