Frontline workers react to ambulance diversions from Mercy Hospital, community slams Catholic Health for travel nurse pay

CWA Catholic Health Workers Update: Frontline workers react to ambulance diversions from Mercy Hospital, community slams Catholic Health for travel nurse pay

Below is the latest from CWA-represented nurses, technical, service and clerical staff employed by Catholic Health System. Frontline workers at Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital are preparing to strike on October 1 if the hospital system continues refusing to agree to a fair contract agreement that will help alleviate the major staffing crisis unfolding at CHS. 

Update on bargaining

The bargaining committee met until 11:00 PM on Monday night, and while there have been some productive conversations around wages, Catholic Health has yet to put forth a proposal and continues to refuse to introduce safe staffing ratios. Nurses in the cardiovascular ICU -- one of the most stressful and urgent units dealing with patients with cardiac events  -- regularly have staffing ratios of 1 nurse to 3 patients. This is incredibly dangerous, and they fear for patient deaths every day because they do not have the capacity to be constantly monitoring each patient with a ratio that high.

Addressing wage competitiveness would help Catholic Health address its staffing issues and high turnover rate. The hospital system let its wages fall so far behind in the market, that it now must  play catch up in order to make itself competitive and attract and retain staff. During the pandemic, union members agreed to contract continuation with only a .5% raise, when the state of New York was in a crisis. Now, workers who are the lifeblood of hospital operations -- jobs like cleaning staff, dietary staff and aides -- make around only $13.50 an hour. Catholic Health’s wages also fall below the market average for some very specialized technical workers, including echo techs and techs in the radiology department.

Catholic Health diverts ambulances from Mercy Hospital and will suspend inpatient elective surgeries at Mercy hospital 

Catholic Health said Tuesday that it will divert all ambulances from entering Mercy Hospital and the Mercy Ambulatory Care Center. A message went out to Fire Departments and EMS services to not transport Buffalo residents to the hospital until further notice. In response, Jackie Ettipio, RN and President of CWA Local 1133, said:

“Diverting ambulances from one understaffed hospital to another won’t solve our staffing crisis. Frontline workers at Catholic Health are pleading with the hospital system to take our concerns seriously and address a staffing crisis that is having a devastating impact on our patients and our community. Instead of agreeing to a fair contract that will allow us to address the issues plaguing our hospitals, Catholic Health is turning its back on patients and forcing us to strike while offering to pay temporary out-of -state workers more than we’d ever dream of making.”

Citizen Action slams Catholic Health for travel nurse pay

Catholic Health is increasing the pay offered to travel nurses that it is using to replace union labor. Nurses who cross their picket line should they strike on Friday, October 1st could make up to $150 an hour, while service workers like dietary aides could make $18. Meanwhile, some CWA union workers with Catholic Health make as little as $13. 

In response to Catholic Health’s paying higher hourly wages to replacement nurses than its own employees in the event of a strike, Citizen Action Vice President Jim Anderson sent a letter this week to CEO Mark Sullivan, slamming his decision:

“[Mercy Hospital workers] are desperate for safe staffing ratios and are crying out for help in order to properly do their jobs,” the letter stated. “Why is Catholic Health willing to pay this much rather than alleviating the degenerating staffing issues and pay reasonable wages to the workers who kept Mercy Hospital’s doors open when Buffalo residents needed them most? You have said Catholic Health can’t afford to pay employees fair wages, but that is even harder to believe when you’re ready to roll out the red carpet for temporary workers who aren’t even from our community. You clearly can afford to treat your employees better and offer a competitive contract.

He went on to call out Sullivan for his own outrageous salary:
“Your workers...have made many sacrifices with friends and family doing their best to care for every patient that walks into Mercy hospital. Now it is time for you to listen to the concerns they have been raising with you and agree to a commonsense contract that pays them fairly and ensures they have the support they need to do their jobs. Mr. Sullivan, you make a $1.2 million dollar salary, and the top 11 administrators made more than $7 million combined in 2019. Do the right thing -- propose a fair contract that addresses the concerns of your true “pandemic heroes” and avert a strike from ever occurring.”

Cafeteria at Mercy Hospital shut down due to understaffing

Last week staff at Mercy Hospital were also greeted with a completely shut down cafeteria, closed to both employee and hospital visitors due to lack of staff to operate it. 

For more information or to arrange interviews, contact CWABuffalo@berlinrosen.com