Butler Memorial Hospital nurses picket for safety, protecting benefits
Several hundred Butler Memorial Hospital nurses wore T-shirts Monday, March 24 displaying the basic gist of their message to hospital leadership: “Respect. Protect. Retain. We are worth it.”
Workplace violence prevention and protection for caregivers, as well as protecting existing benefits and staffing levels, are among the main concerns of the Butler Memorial Hospital nurses who held multiple picket sessions along East Brady Street on Monday.
The nurses currently are negotiating a new contract with Independence Health System. The current contract expires April 16. With three negotiating sessions down and five to go, Butler nurses decided the informational picketing was essential.
“We’re hoping they realize that we have the support and numbers and that we’re serious,” said Tammy May, a Butler Memorial nurse and local union president. ”And that’s the whole purpose of this, to show that it’s not just the people at the negotiation table saying we need these changes, we are saying this united.”
Butler Memorial Hospital’s nurses are affiliated with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP). The 499 nurses employed at Butler Memorial are negotiating a new contract for the first time since Excela Health and Butler Health System merged in 2023 to form Independence Health System, which includes four hospitals in Western Pennsylvania in addition to Butler.
In a previously released statement, association leadership representing the nurses said hospital management, post-merger, now is attempting to “gut our contract.” They say this move involves removing service lines and positions, which the association claims could potentially endanger patients and prompt nurses to “flee the system.”
However, nurse safety was the most prominent concern of those picketing.
May told the Butler Eagle days before picketing began that workplace violence is on the rise and nurses largely feel unprotected. According to her, nurses are getting punched, kicked, spit on, bitten, sexually harassed and verbally abused by patients who may be experiencing mental health issues.
“We had a patient threaten to shoot a doctor within the past week. We had a patient calling trying to get in a gun so he could kill us, these things are happening all the time,” May said.
She added people can enter the hospital even when they aren’t seeking treatment or visiting a patient. “We’ve asked for metal detectors elsewhere, because people come in,“ May said.
In a statement to the Butler Eagle, Independence Health System said the safety and security of patients, staff and visitors are its highest priorities and it is “deeply committed” to maintaining an environment where everyone feels safe and valued.
“While we do not disclose specific details about our advanced security protocols, we continuously monitor, review and enhance our security measures, as well as foster a culture of preparedness and collaboration with our staff, on-site security and local authorities. Our goal is that all our facilities remain secure and welcoming places for everyone who walks through our doors,” the statement said.
Several members of the nurses’ negotiating team said various stances hospital leadership is taking in negotiations are unacceptable. One of those is shrinking the number of “nurse grids.” For example, a proposed grid would have five nurses taking care of 25 patients, plus a sixth employee who would be available. Shrinking the grid would put fewer nurses on the floor.
“It would mean each of us would have more patients to take care of. And that’s really important and something people may not understand,” said Devin Doctor, a Butler Memorial nurse and member of the negotiating team.
Nurses on the negotiating team also said the hospital wants to freeze contributions to the pensions of current employees and end pensions altogether for future nurses.
“We are working cooperatively and respectfully to find solutions to our shared problems (and) are committed to reaching a fair and equitable agreement with PASNAP. To suggest otherwise simply is not the case. We look forward to continued discussions,” Independence Health told the Butler Eagle Monday afternoon.
Butler Memorial nurses held three two-hour informational picket sessions Monday — one at 7 a.m., one at 11 a.m. and one at 4 p.m. — with nurses participating when they were not working. May said she expected anywhere from 300 to 400 nurses to join throughout the day.
At the 11 a.m. session, various nurses gave speeches, then marched around the block, including past the hospital’s East Brady Street entrance. The crowd ranged from young adults who have worked at the hospital for only a couple of years, to parents who brought their children. Signs included statements such as “Respect and Protect” and “Value nurses,” while others called for a “fair contract.”
“A PASNAP representative has informed us that they intend to engage in informational picketing outside of BMH today, Monday, March 24,” Independence Health System said in a statement regarding the picketing. “This demonstration is not a strike and will not disrupt employees, operations or patient care. We respect our nurses’ right to voice their concern and we remain committed to ongoing dialogue to ensure the best outcomes for our employees, patients, and community.”
Several nurses spoke to the crowd about experiences they’ve faced, and why they feel it is important to picket. Andrea Silverio, a behavioral health nurse, talked about a co-worker who had her hair ripped out during an assault.
Shannon Herrington, who has been an intensive care nurse at Butler Memorial for more than 20 years, said the nurses are asking hospital leadership for more guards and increased security measures, such as additional metal detectors and maintaining staffing levels. She said in the past few weeks, numerous nurses were assaulted, including a case in which a staff member had some teeth knocked out and another nurse was headbutted.
“We’re trying to make sure this building is safe — safe for our patients, safe for our staff,” Herrington said.
Herrington said if the hospital were to do everything management proposed, the patients “would be getting worse care.”
Doctor said during her speech that retaining nurses is a big concern and the hospital is ignoring their safety.
“(We’re) letting them know we have a seat at the table as Butler nurses and we’re not going to just let them do things without discussing them with their staff. The biggest thing is that they’re treating our safety like it is a luxury,” Doctor said. “It’s ridiculous that we have to ask.”
Doctor read a statement to the crowd from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., in support of their efforts to create safer worker conditions.
“I stand with the nurses of Butler Memorial Hospital who are fighting for their contract and safer work conditions. It is unconscionable that nurses, already stretched thin, are facing violence on the job, staffing shortages and threats to their benefits. Nurses across Pennsylvania are on the front lines and provide comfort to families that need it the most. They deserve respect, safety and the resources to do the job,” Fetterman’s statement said.
Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy gave a speech reflecting on the care Butler nurses gave his late wife, Julie, and how they have helped his family during hard times. He said the nurses are “far too often not heard,” and deserve to have better and safer work conditions and better compensation.
“You are the backbone of the health care system. You are the essential components. You work tirelessly on the front lines, you provide comfort in times of sickness and offer care in moments of despair. And you see the face of both suffering and hope. You stand by us,” Dandoy said.
May said the nurses union and the hospital have five more negotiation sessions, with one set Friday, March 28.
She said the picketing was meant to send a message to hospital leadership.
“After the first three sessions, feeling we needed to go to this extent, this is the first action we’ve had in 23 years,” May said.“ I think that tells how serious it is. And I’ve been working for 25 years, this is the first time I’ve ever mentioned the ‘S-word’ — strike — and I did it a year in advance of the contract expiration.”
May said the nurses do not like the idea of a potential strike, but the picket sessions Monday show how serious they are about getting increased safety and how opposed they are to proposed cuts.
“My glass is always half full and I think there’s a way to find solutions,” May said. “But the way management has been treating us in the two years since the merger, I have had strike on my mind, and I’ve been telling co-workers, ‘be prepared,’ because (hospital management) are going to be hard to deal with, and that is proving true.”
