Hundreds of Rochester General nurses and supporters took to the sidewalks outside of the hospital on Thursday as a two-day strike began.
According to officials with Rochester Regional Health, talks with the hospital system and the Rochester Union of Nurses and Allied Professionals, or RUNAP, ended late Wednesday afternoon.
About 300 nurses were walking the picket line early Thursday.
RGH released a statement on Thursday morning saying that it “did not want this strike and we believe nothing we have proposed or haven’t proposed in our negotiations with RUNAP warranted this strike.”
The hospital said that it has contracted with “a nationally respected agency” to hire temporary replacement nurses and advised patients with scheduled procedures, treatment and exams to visit RGH at their scheduled appointment time.
Later in the day, it said that despite the challenges brought on by the strike, they were thankful for the "nearly half" of all union-represented nurses who chose to work Thursday morning.
Talks between the hospital and the union have been going on since last fall. But even with some agreements, the union said they weren't enough to satisfy their demands, which is to ultimately have more staff on the job and improve staff-to-patient ratios.
The nurses’ union also has been talking about better wages for its members. RGH said that since January 2020, it already increased nurse base wages by an average of 19%, and the most recent wage proposal from RGH called for an average 7.8% increase for the first year of the contract.
Among the crowd of strikers was Abby Rice, a psychology nurse at the hospital. Being on the picket line was pretty much an about-face for Rice, who said she initially voted no for unionizing last year.
“Because I trusted the leadership team of RGH not to lie, and to take care of its nurses and its employees," Rice said. "And I guess I just couldn't believe that all these things were really taking place.”
But since then, she said she's seen the conditions of her unit deteriorate — and she had to do something.
“I was able to see that like if we stand together, like we can move them," she said. "The hospital started off being very unreasonable. And they have moved a little bit each time that we have shown that we are strong that we are not giving up.”
Jillian Kingsley, a labor and delivery nurse who is also secretary of the RUNAP union, was also on the picket line. She said she's disappointed with what management has offered during the bargaining sessions.
“We've been at the bargaining table since October,” Kingsley said. “We gave fair proposals in October. We have continued to show up at every single negotiating meeting, motivated to give this community good care. Unfortunately, we have not had that in return.
"The board is the one who makes the ultimate decisions and they are members of this community, their businesses are in this community, and they should be looking out for this community and they’re not,” Kingsley said.
The hospital statement said that if RGH were to agree to everything RUNAP wanted around wages, staffing and benefits, it would cost Rochester Regional Health more than $111 million for just the first year of the contract. Hospital officials said the health system is already projecting a $150 million loss this year.
Several supporters also turned out at the picket line, including the Rochester Labor Council. The organization represents over 100,000 workers in various trades and sectors.
Its president, Dan Maloney, spoke to the nurses.
“These professionals deliver babies save lives, give concerned and compassionate care to people in some form of medical trauma, right?" Maloney said. "These nurses never give up on us when we're in need and we will never give up on you in your time.”
Maloney said the council will continue to back the union until an agreement is reached.
“We will see this issue get settled," he said. "We're in this fight to win it one day longer, one day stronger until management comes to their senses and does the right thing.”
The labor supporters claim that local hospital systems “continue to put profit ahead of workers and patient care.”
The two-day strike is expected to continue until early Saturday.
