BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – Union workers at Mercy Hospital and Catholic Health still have not reached an agreement on a labor contract. They have until 11:59 p.m. Thursday to reach an agreement before the union employees go on strike.
“They’re playing a game of chicken right now,” former president of Buffalo General Hospital, Larry Zielinski, told WBEN on Thursday morning. “I still am holding out hope that reason will come to the forefront and they’ll settle this before the midnight deadline.”
The union is demanding increased pay for its employees, an increase in hospital staff, and other hospital resources as part of the dispute. However, Catholic Health has cited the pandemic as reasons why there are staffing issues and low resources. CHS has not said much publicly about a wage increase.
The two sides were last apart in the negotiations by tens of millions of dollars, Catholic Health said Wednesday. It’s not immediately clear how far apart they are as of the publishing of this story.
“The level of staffing in hospitals across the country has been dropping for decades,” Zielinski said. “This is not a new bone of contention. It’s a perennial issue but it’s; been brought to the forefront because of the pandemic. Health systems like Catholic Health suffered mightily during the past year and a half financially, so they’re in much more severe financial straits, so this staffing issue is just magnified because of this financial situation they find themselves in.”
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Catholic Health has readied a professional staff of temporary health care workers to continue operations at the hospital should the strike happen. However, Zielinski warned the temporary workers will not have the same familiarity with the hospital as the nurses who may go on strike.
“Temporary staffing is a very poor substitute for a normal workforce,” he said.
Neither Catholic Health nor the union representatives have commented publicly Thursday about the negotiations.