Framingham Union Nurses Grow Anxious As Election Delay Continues

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Nurses at Framingham Union Hospital are growing anxious as a union election date has yet to formalize, and, those representing the union say, Tenet officials are employing tactics to delay that election.

Officials with the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents the Framingham Union nurses, said that Tenet "has engaged in union-busting activities" inside Framingham Union Hospital.

This includes holding one-on-one meetings with nurses and posting what they said is misinformation on bulletin boards in the hospital, officials said.

Tenet has also tried to delay the Framingham Union election by filing a "frivolous" appeal to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, DC.

These actions come after Tenet recently settled an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB over their practices at MetroWest Medical Center.

The MNA filed a charge against Tenet for having an employee handbook that violated the National Labor Relations Act, officials said. A settlement required Tenet to remove the illegal handbook rules and post a notice affirming employees’ rights at MetroWest Medical Center, officials said.

Nurses at the hospital filed an election petition with the NLRB in September and sent a letter to MetroWest Medical Center CEO John Whitlock, Jr., sharing their decision and asking him to voluntarily recognize the union.

Whitlock and other officials did not respond to the request, according to MNA officials.

Roughly 280 nurses are eligible to be part of the union, and officials said that a "supermajority" signed on to the idea.

“An overwhelming majority of Registered Nurses at Framingham Union Hospital have decided that we would like to have a real and independent voice on all decisions that affect us, the work we do and the patients we take care of,” the nurses wrote in their letter to the CEO. “We would like to be real partners with you in setting priorities for our workplace and ensuring a healthy future for Framingham.”

Framingham Union is owned by Tenet Health, which also owns Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester as part of MetroWest Medical Center.

Nurses in Worcester ended a strike in early 2022 301 days after similar efforts. It took more than two years of negotiating before a new contract was approved.

One thing that could be working in the favor of the nurses in Framingham is public and diplomatic support.

According to an earlier Patch report, every member of Congress from Massachusetts supported the nurses during the contract negotiations in Worcester.

"Tonight’s vote is an historic victory for the heroic nurses at St. Vincent who refused to budge until they secured the protections and staffing conditions their patients deserve," U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Fitchburg, said in a news release at the time.

In Worcester, the nurses' main goal during the strike was to increase staffing levels across all parts of the hospital. The hospital agreed to reduce the number of patients assigned to each nurse in many areas.

An initially unexpected barrier for nurses in Framingham could be a potential government shutdown. Nurses fear that a shutdown would impact NLRB activity, thus further delaying a vote.

They will speak about this and provide an update regarding the ongoing discussions and delays at a Wednesday press conference on Lincoln Street outside Framingham Union Hospital at 12 p.m.

Tenet Health officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.