Framingham Union Nurses Seeking 'Good Faith' Contract Negotiations

FRAMINGHAM, MA — More than 80 percent of the nurses at Framingham Union Hospital have signed a "Unity" petition they plan to deliver to Tenet Healthcare's CEO on Tuesday.

The registered nurses of Tenet Healthcare’s Framingham Union Hospital (FUH), who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), are calling on John Whitlock, Jr., to "engage in a good faith effort to negotiate with the nurses for a union contract that ensures 'quality care for the community' and that 'supports their employees,'" officials said.

The delivery comes 13 months after the nurses voted to form their union with the Massachusetts Nurses Association, followed by what officials have called "months of fruitless negotiations for their first contract, coupled with the deterioration of patient care quality and staff morale under the embattled leadership of Tenet’s CEO Carolyn Jackson, and her much maligned Chief Nursing Officer Denise Kvapil."

The nurses documented and made public their concerns over poor patient care conditions with a press conference in September of 2024 where they announced the filing of official complaints with the Department of Public Health and other regulatory agencies.

Nurses at St. Vincent Hospital had also filed six similar complaints about the safety of patient care under Jackson and Kvapil’s leadership, which culminated in a meeting in January with DPH Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, attended by the FUH nurses, where they provided a scathing report of the conditions that nurses were being forced to work under.

A month later, Tenet announced the departure of Jackson and a few weeks later, of Kvapil.

Since the ouster of Jackson and Kvapil, new regional leadership has been installed, along with a new director of human resources and new director of labor relations for the Tenet Hospitals in Massachusetts.

"The nurses see this as a positive sign, and are hopeful that with this changing of the guard in Massachusetts, we can reset our relationship with Tenet and begin a good faith effort to move our negotiations forward to achieve an agreement that ensures safe patient care for the community, and that treats the dedicated staff at the hospital with the respect and dignity they deserve," said Natalie Laidlaw, RN, a nurse on the hospital’s telemetry floor and member the nurses negotiating committee.

The nurses are set to hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday on Lincoln Street, across from the hospital. A livestream can be viewed here.