BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) The picket lines in front of Mercy Hospital are suspended pending a ratification vote on a tentative deal reached Thursday night between the CWA and Catholic Health.
"The usual process is that the union will discuss the offer this weekend
and then workers will vote on it. After it's ratified, then the details are released. Unit then, it's not a deal, it's only a tentative agreement," said labor specialist Art Wheaton with the ILR School at Cornell University.
It's unclear how the two aides came to a compromise. Earlier in the week, the union said they were "one digit away" from a deal. It was a reference to staffing ratios. Catholic Health wanted a 1:5 worker-to-patient ratio. The union wanted 1:4.
"That one digit away may end up being a compromise between the two sides,
which is the way collective bargaining works," said Wheaton.
There have been many so-called deals, that end up being turned down by unions. Wheaton points to Boeing, and even to John Deere, in which a tentative deal soured earlier this week. "It does happen, not ratifying agreements," said Wheaton.
"In this case, they've been out for 35 days, the union says it's good,
adding they got what they needed, so hopefully it gets ratified."
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After the contentious labor impasse that lasted more than a month, how do the two sides go about patching things up? " I don't expect a lot of animosity if the union is satisfied with the staffing issue," said Wheaton. "Catholic Health is going to be happy that they no longer have to pay replacement workers, and can schedule all of the services that they were providing
in the past."
Could there be a lasting impression on the community from the strike? "The public is likely saying, why did it take so long to make a reasonable deal? That could hurt the brand (Catholic Health and Mercy Hospital.) But in the end, you have a union that is there to help get the best resolution at the bargaining table. I think both sides will recover from this," added Wheaton.