By Tessa Roy, WPRO News
Unionized nurses and other healthcare workers from Rhode Island and Hasbro Children’s Hospitals came off the picket lines on Friday after striking over contract negotiations. Those negotiations with the hospitals’ parent company Lifespan are set to move forward on August 8th, but the union said that’s not soon enough; its members, who wanted to meet next week, accused Lifespan of “stalling” the talks.
“We do not want a cooling off period,” said United Nurses and Allied Professionals (UNAP) president Linda McDonald. “We want to get back to that table and negotiate a contract that recognizes us as the professionals we are.”
Though nurses and others represented by UNAP voted for a three day strike that began on Monday, temporary nurses hired to replace them were contracted for four days. That meant the regular nurses were “locked out” for an extra day.
However, some nurses were also turned away on Friday. Lifespan had said typically, there are fewer patients after a strike and not enough work for everyone on the schedule.
The strike came after contract disputes between the union and Lifespan. Rhode Island Hospital has maintained that its offer to the union included “extremely competitive wage and benefits packages valued at tens of millions of dollars.”
The union, however, consistently said they have not been offered enough. Nurses on the picket lines have told reporters they are not fairly paid and don’t have proper resources or staff to safely do their jobs.
Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health Dr. Nicole Alexander Scott said the Department was monitoring the hospitals during the strike and will continue to do so during the transition back to the regular staff. She also noted that “current indications are that this work stoppage concluded without any major patient care incidents.”
“This was the result of the vigilance and persistence of staff at RIDOH before the strike and throughout, the flexibility and cooperation of the leadership of the other Rhode Island hospitals, and the tremendous dedication of the healthcare providers throughout the state this week,” Alexander-Scott said. “It is in the interest of patients, other healthcare facilities and providers, and the healthcare system as a whole for Lifespan and the local United Nurses & Allied Professionals (UNAP) chapter to come together and arrive at a resolution to this labor dispute so that we can all ensure the safety of patients and the quality of care long-term.”
WPRO has reached out to a spokesperson at Rhode Island Hospital for further comment about the end of the strike and the upcoming contract discussions.
