Dispatch: Week 11 at the St. Vincent Hospital strike
By Matthew Erlich
Spirits were high at the St. Vincent Hospital picket line as DSA members joined striking nurses last Friday (May 21) at St. Vincent Hospital. Despite it being the 11th week since walking off the job to fight for safe conditions for the nurses and their patients, the nurses got to dance the night away to the sounds of local musicians who showed up to show their support.
Since the strike began in the frigid weather of early March, nurses have waited out delays in ther unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits; they’ve watched as multiple attempts at negotiations have fallen apart in the face of Tenet’s (the for-profit owner of St. Vincent) unwillingness to provide the necessary staffing to ensure patient safety; most recently, Tenet has threatened to hire permanent replacement workers—though the nurses see right through the desperate tactic that it is.
With the strike now in week 12, members of the Boston, Worcester, and Pioneer Valley DSA chapters are continuing to walk the picket line alongside the striking nurses to show solidarity. They plan to show up in support every Friday night until the nurses’ demands are met. This Friday, May 28, musicians from BABAM! (Boston Area Brigade of Activist Musicians) will be in Worcester for another musical night of solidarity.
Sign up to join us on Friday nights and show your support for the nurses of St. Vincent Hospital.
Working Mass 