Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As the strike against Mercy Hospital and Catholic Health enters the fourth week, there appears to be no resolution in sight as both sides are trading accusations about how ongoing negotiations should be characterized.
Catholic Health Saturday accused the CWA workers of not having a sense of urgency to resolve the ongoing labor walkout. "Four weeks into its strike, the union still has no sense of urgency to reach an agreement,” said JoAnn Cavanaugh with Mercy Hospital. “The parties made progress this week on contract language about pharmacy benefits, prescription co-pays and overtime pay," added Cavanaugh.
CWA leadership responded Sunday refuting the claims of a lack of urgency. "We had a good week this week," said Deborah Hayes with CWA during a late Sunday news briefing outside the hospital. "It was slow because some of the proposals the hospital gave us early on were not well thought through," added Hayes.
Both sides have claimed the other is elongating the strike by not responding to proposals in a timely fashion.
“We have been waiting for more than a week for CWA to respond to key proposals to end this strike, while the union has spent significant time over the last few days discussing an inconsequential proposal that would allow associates to wear red uniforms on Thursdays," stated Cavanaugh.
"It hurts when Catholic Health spreads lies about us and tries to intimidate us, after our members have put everything on the line during the pandemic, but the truth is Catholic Health’s counterproductive statements only make us more determined to keep fighting for the care that patients deserve," countered Hayes.
As the strike continues, Catholic Health extended its arrangement with the strike replacement agency to ensure the care of approximately 100 inpatients and 100 emergency patients at Mercy Hospital and the Mercy Ambulatory Care Center each day.
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