Framingham Union Nurses Vote To Form Union This Week
FRAMINGHAM, MA — Nurses at Framingham Union Hospital will vote in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association and form a union on Wednesday.
This comes after months of waiting for an election date after a group of nurses filed an election petition with the NLRB in September. From that time, nurses said, officials from Tenet Healthcare — which owns the hospital — have engaged in “union busting” tactics.
This includes filing a “frivolous” appeal to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, DC, MNA officials said in November.
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Now, the election will take place at the hospital at different periods throughout the day on Wednesday, ending at 9 p.m.
There are approximately 280 registered nurses at FUH who would be represented by the MNA following a successful election. The main themes nurses have identified for why they are joining the MNA include:
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“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 a letter they delivered to the hospital CEO in September. “We would like to be real partners with you in setting priorities for our workplace and ensuring a healthy future for Framingham.”
Now, with a union vote set to come, nurses may finally get the chance to negotiate for what they believe will improve the place they work.
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