Union nurses at Cape Cod Healthcare are prepared to go on strike if necessary, though they are hoping to instead reach a fair deal with their employer at the bargaining table this month.
That's according to Laurie Parker, a registered nurse at Cape Cod Hospital and co-chair of the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
“I think on both sides, nobody wants to strike. We hope to reach a deal,” Parker said. “We all love our hospital and our patients, and we want to keep everybody safe.”
The union announced in a press release Monday, July 28 that Cape Cod Healthcare union nurses “overwhelmingly” voted to authorize a three-day strike.
The union and Cape Cod Healthcare have four bargaining sessions planned for August, the first being Monday, August 4, Parker said. The outcome of those sessions will determine whether the nurses actually move to strike.
The nurses have three main grievances, according to the union's press release. One has to do with the wages the healthcare company is offering.
“We just really want to get wages that are competitive with other hospitals our size,” Parker said. “We lose a lot of new nurses who go off-Cape to make more money because they can't afford to live down here.”
In a statement to CAI, Cape Cod Healthcare said it has offered nurses wage increases that are "aligned with the broader community health system market.” This includes a proposed 22 percent wage increase over a three-year period, including annual step increases. Cape Cod Healthcare also says it increased the pay scale for nurses by 10 percent in January 2024.
The union also takes issue with the healthcare package Cape Cod Healthcare is offering nurses. Their current plan includes a flat rate copay, Parker said, but the proposed plan would leave nurses responsible for a percentage of the cost of their healthcare.
“When you go for a test—like, say, an MRI—you could be responsible for a percentage of that test, and they have not been able to tell us how much that would be,” Parker said.
And, the healthcare package would require them to get care from Cape Cod Healthcare, she said.
“So the hospital is making money off of the services that we seek out,” Parker said. “If we did what they're offering, along with the wage package, it could be that some people would be making less money than they're making now.”
The nurses’ union also wants Cape Cod Healthcare to implement policies that would address workplace violence.
“Workplace violence is happening in every hospital throughout the country,” Parker said. “We were just looking to get some writing, some language that protects nurses.”
For example, Parker said, many other hospitals in the state have signage in each patient room saying there is zero tolerance for violence or abuse. She and her colleagues would like the same for their hospitals.
The last time Cape Cod Healthcare nurses went on strike was in the 1980s, Parker said. Back then, only the Cape Cod Hospital nurses were on strike, so patients were still able to receive care at Falmouth Hospital.
But this time, nurses at both hospitals are prepared to strike.
If the nurses decide to strike, they have to give Cape Cod Healthcare ten days’ notice, Parker said.
“It would mean them [Cape Cod Healthcare] having to bring travelers in to work at both hospitals,” she said. “And as our own nurses and travelers can't find housing, I imagine that that would be a challenge for the hospital.”
Cape Cod Healthcare said in its statement that it is committed to bargaining in good faith with the nurses’ union.
