Hundreds of nurses and their supporters picketed in front of Tufts Medical Center in Boston today as part of a one-day strike of some 1,200 registered nurses, according to the union representing the group, the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
“1 2 3 4, contract’s what we’re fighting for,” the picketers chanted. “5 6 7 8, end it now, it’s not too late.”
The union described it as “the first strike by nurses in Boston in over 30 years, and the largest nurses’ strike in Massachusetts history” as nurses and management were unable to reach a contract agreement at a federal mediator’s office. “The nurses are seeking much needed improvements in staffing levels to ensure nurses have more time to spend with patients as well as an increase in their salary to keep them competitive with other Boston hospitals (Tufts nurses are the lowest paid nurses in the city) and to preserve and enhance their pension benefit (which is also the worst in the city).”
(Photos copyright 2017 Greg Cook.)
