BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) In his first LIVE interview with WBEN since the strike at Mercy Hospital began, Catholic Hospital President and CEO Mark Sullivan updated the status of contract talks with CWA Local 1133 Wednesday morning.
"We're talking seven days a week," said Sullivan. "The way it works, is you exchange proposals at the bargaining table and then you go into separate caucus rooms and discuss what the other side has proposed. That takes time."
Sullivan describes the health care provider and the union as "players" in a broken national health care system. "One in five healthcare workers, since the pandemic has started, has left healthcare." He said every health care system in every state in the country is facing a staffing crisis.
"We need to do our best, CWA and Catholic Health, in coming to a resolution in getting our associates back at the bedside," he said. "And we need to be working on how to change health care for the future."
The strike by about 1,900 Mercy Hospital workers marches on. They walked off the job October 1.
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CWA Local 1133 is fully committed to staffing ratios. Sullivan tells WBEN, Catholic Health is not opposed to ratios. "I don't like to bargain in the media, but in Article 13 in the contract, I think the word 'ratios' and 'staffing ratios' is mentioned 19 times. We have added language around that."
New York State law does not require staffing ratios. It requires a committee from both sides to discuss how to staff better, based on patient census, acuity, and skill set. "We've committed to that in writing," said Sullivan.
The hospital president said Catholic Health has also committed to three key elements.
* Adding 250 new positions.
* Staffing at 10% over the daily census
* If that is not accomplished, Catholic Health will pay a bonus to any associate who steps up to cover any shift.
"We believe our staffing proposal is progressive and will lead the way for the nation," said Sullivan. "You can't fix a broken national health system overnight. We're committed to a long journey to improve staffing, recruit into our system, and continue to drive and transform healthcare and lead the region in quality."
The strike is reaching a critical point. Art Wheaton, labor relations specialist with Cornell’s School of Industrial & Labor Relations in Buffalo says after day 14-days, which would be Thursday, workers can begin collecting strike pay.
On day 14, strikers are also eligible to collect unemployment in the state. Also, Catholic Health would have to renegotiate another contract for replacement workers.
Sullivan was asked how much the contract offer has changed since the strike began. He admitted it has been "pretty consistent." What has changed, he said, is some language and understanding of the proposals.
