Budding nurses union claims interference from Framingham hospital. What we know.

FRAMINGHAM — Nurses, city officials and community members gathered Wednesday in front of MetroWest Medical Center to respond to allegations of union-busting activities by the hospital's owner, Tenet Healthcare Corp.

Nursing staff, joined by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, spoke during a news conference about the lack of an election more than two months after nurses first attempted to unionize. The staff and the MNA also spoke out against what they described as union-busting activities by Dallas-based Tenet, which owns the hospital.

The news conference was attended by about 30 people, including city councilors and Mayor Charlie Sisitsky. Also attending were MNA leaders, including President Katie Murphy, a Framingham resident, and members of a local firefighters union.

Earlier: Nurses at Framingham hospital are pushing to unionize

Nurses at MetroWest Medical Center filed notice with the National Labor Relations Board on Sept. 12 to trigger an election to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association. About 70% of nurses signed union cards, more than double the federally required 30% needed to trigger an election. Nurses filed notice over concerns of unsafe working conditions.

Tenet Healthcare did not return requests for comment left Thursday with a corporate spokeswoman and at the Worcester office of Carolyn Jackson, CEO of Massachusetts Hospitals for Tenet.

'We love this hospital and we want to take control again'

Ginnie Ford began nursing work in Framingham as a 19-year-old shortly before the Blizzard of 1978, when she says she learned to become a nurse.

"During COVID, we worked so many hours," she said. "They (Tenet) laid off people, they furloughed them. So, the nurses were left, there were no secretaries, they laid off directors and educators. We love this hospital and we want to take control again so we can be the hospital we were 40, 50 years ago... So please, please listen to us. And Tenet, stop with the appeals. We need to vote."

Nurse Sherlyn Roberts, who works on the fifth floor of the Framingham hospital, echoed the need for a union. She's been at MetroWest Medical Center for 13 years, having previously worked as a registered nurse and midwife in Ghana and West Africa. She came to Framingham as a refugee.

"As of now, the maximum patients should be four to five per nurse," Roberts said. "The hospital doesn't take into account the patient or how sick the patients are. Currently, the night shift, the nurses are asked to care for six patients without any help."

MetroWest Medical Center operates three facilities — Framingham Union Hospital on Lincoln Street in Framingham; MetroWest Wellness Center on Worcester Road (Route 9) in Framingham; and Leonard Morse Hospital, which focuses on mental health services, on Union Street in Natick.

Potential nurses union gets community support

Mary Parcher, former director of the Callahan Center in Framingham, spoke in support of nurses unionizing. She said that due to nurses appearing overworked, she kept quiet about her problems when she visited the hospital.

"I say, 'Hear, hear, you deserve your union,'" Parcher said.

Debra Tosti was born at Framingham Union. She's also a former hospital board member and former CEO of Tewksbury Hospital. Like Parcher, she supports a nurses union due the amount of work local nurses do.

"It's time for the nurses of Framingham union to be recognized and have a legal place at the table," Tosti said. "Nurses need a voice, so they can focus on caring for patients. MNA will be the voice of our nurses."

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City Councilors Phil Ottaviani and John Stefanini also indicated support for the nurses' right to unionize, and each emphasized the need for Tenet to set a date.

Ottaviani and his sisters were born at the hospital, and his wife got her start in her career there.

"Not a day goes by where my wife gets a text from a former colleague," Ottaviani said. "It's absolutely disgraceful, they need an election, and they need it now. We demand an election now, that's what we want and that's what Tenet should do."

In an interview with the Daily News following the conference, Stefanini said the right to organize "is fundamental in America."

"Workers' ability to speak with one voice is fundamental," he said. "It's time to let the workers to decide and it's time for an election... we need a high-quality hospital in Framingham."

How do unions form?

According to the (NLRB), if a majority of workers want to form a union, workers can select a union in one of two ways:

• If at least 30% of workers sign cards or a petition saying they want a union, the NLRB will conduct an election. If a majority of those who vote approve being part of a union, the NLRB will certify the union as the workers' representative for collective bargaining. The reason Framingham nurses haven't yet received an election date is because their employer — Tenet — has appealed.

• Employers can also voluntarily recognize a union based on evidence, such as signed union-authorization cards that a majority of employees want a union to represent them.

Once a union has been certified or recognized, the employer is required to bargain over terms and conditions of employment with a union representative.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Metrowest Medical Center is trying union-busting tactics, nurses say