Nearly 800 St. Mary Medical Center Nurses Remain On Strike As Coronavirus Cases Climb In Region
LANGHORNE, Pa. (CBS) -- As cases of the coronavirus continue to climb in our region, nearly 800 nurses at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne are on strike. They walked off the job Tuesday morning.
They say they want better wages and that a staffing shortage is compromising patient care.
"It is sad that they would rather have me walk over to a hospital that's 10 minutes down the road where I can get paid more than keeping someone who has been trained for seven years," nurse Anna Smith said.
The nurses say their strike was to end Thursday, but that the hospital has locked them out for three additional days.
Mercy Health responded to a request for comment, saying, in part, "This is not a lockout. About 20% of the St. Mary nurses in the bargaining unit chose to come to work rather than strike. The contract with the replacement nurses' agency guarantees them five days of work and reinstating the St. Mary nurses cannot be accomplished overnight."
St. Mary Medical Center says it remains committed to negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement on a fair contract.
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