St. Mary Medical Center Nurses Return To Work Following Strike
LANGHORNE, Pa. (CBS) -- Nurses at a Bucks County hospital have returned to work after striking over staffing and wages last week. Nurses returned to St. Mary Medical Center on Sunday morning at 7 a.m. and are eager to get back to the bargaining table to resume talks with administration to further protect their patients.
"We walked back in this morning with our heads held high," says Bill Engle, R.N. "We are proud of what we accomplished, raising our concerns to Trinity and to the community. Now that St. Chris, Einstein, Lower Bucks, Suburban, Jeanes and Mercy Fitzgerald have all reached agreements to improve basic staffing levels, it's time for Trinity to do the same."
Eight hundred nurses at St. Mary Medical Center went on strike last week calling for better wages and more staffing.
The walkout was supposed to end on Thursday, but the nurses say the hospital locked them out for three more days. Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, which operates St. Mary Medical Center, says there's no lockout. The company says the contracts for replacement workers guarantees five days of work.
Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic say they look forward to going back to the negotiating and hopes to come to an agreement on a contract that's fair, consistent and sustainable.
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