Nurses union survives vote to remain at Saint Vincent Hospital after bitter 9-month strike

Saint Vincent nurses went on a nine-month strike last year.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester fought off an effort to oust their union from the hospital and voted overwhelmingly Monday to remain members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

The decision is a victory for the union, which held a historic nine-month strike at Saint Vincent last year before winning a new labor contract.

“The honor and integrity of our union is strong, as the Saint Vincent nurses have reaffirmed our right to maintain a powerful voice in our advocacy for our patients and our work life,” Marlena Pellegrino, a nurse and co-chair of the bargaining unit, said in a statement. “We now look forward to working with all our colleagues to truly begin the healing process and to build a positive future for Saint Vincent Hospital.”

A group of nurses who oppose the union petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to hold a decertification vote, which started in early February, and ballots were counted Monday afternoon.

Vote counters tallied hundreds of pink paper ballots at the NLRB office in Boston, streaming the results on Zoom. The outcome of the election was unpredictable until the final minutes. Ultimately, 302 nurses voted in favor of the union, and 133 voted against it.

The decertification attempt started with a replacement nurse hired during the strike, C. Richard Avola, and was backed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which wages legal battles against labor unions across the country.

Officials at Saint Vincent Hospital, owned by Tenet Healthcare of Dallas, initially did not take sides in the vote and said they would respect nurses’ decision. But hospital CEO Carolyn Jackson later emailed nurses and urged them to vote “no.”

In a statement Monday, hospital officials struck a more conciliatory tone and did not challenge the results of the vote.

“Saint Vincent Hospital respects the decision of its nurses to continue to be represented by the MNA,” the statement said. “Saint Vincent holds its nurses in the highest esteem and remains committed to retaining and attracting high-quality nursing talent.”

Union nurses went on strike last year after failing to reach an agreement with the hospital on staffing levels. They eventually reached a settlement that includes limits of four or five patients per nurse in most units, and gives many nurses pay increases of up to 28 percent.

Union officials said nurses would have lost all those guarantees if they had voted to expel the union.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association represents 23,000 nurses at 50 hospitals and other health care facilities across the state. Last week, it gained about 700 new members at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford.