Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Leaders at Catholic Health say they will continue to negotiate with union leaders toward a new contract after workers represented by CWA voted to give the union authorization to strike.
"I just think it's a little bit premature," Catholic Health President and CEO Joyce Markiewicz told WBEN on Tuesday. "We haven't even put final offers across the table yet."
Monday's vote gives the union the authority to call a strike with a required 10-day notice, but only at Mercy Hospital in South Buffalo.
Catholic Health says Mercy Hospital’s bargaining team remains committed to reaching an agreement, but they are also working to minimize the disruption to the hospital, should a strike be called.
Staffing levels remain a key point in the negotiations.
"We have hired many new associates, and our retention rates are excellent," Markiewicz said. "We're doing really well related to the ratios, where we run in to difficulty with staffing levels we really can't do alone."
Markiewicz pointed to state mandated time off rules, and an attendance policy that she called "lucrative," allowing workers to call in late or absent several times before any action needs to be taken. She adds that policy should be updated to work better with mandated time off.
"It makes it very difficult when you have an average of 20 people a day calling in two hours before a shift," Markiewicz said. "Sometimes it makes it impossible to call in staff... I think those are things we have the ability to work directly with the CWA to fix."
Markiewicz told WBEN they intend on continuing to bargain with the union to avoid any strike.
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