National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_OCT 12/27/11 2:26 PM Page 7 Boston RNs Challenge Wall Street Hospital Chain MASSACHUSETTS C rowds of outraged nurses, healthcare professionals, and healthcare activists picketed outside the corporate headquarters of Cerberus/Steward Health Care System in October to protest the company's shameless pattern of breaking its promises and employing oppressive management practices that harm patients and those who care for them. For more than a year, Massachusetts Nurses Association nurses and healthcare professionals who work at eight area hospitals have been under the management of Cerberus/Steward, a multibillion dollar, private equity firm. The facilities are St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Norwood Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, Morton Hospital, Quincy Medical Center, Carney NOVEMBER 2011 Hospital, Holy Family Hospital, and Merrimack Valley Hospital. The crowd of MNA members and supporters who picketed in front of the corporate giant's home at 500 Boylston St. on Oct. 28 wanted to draw public attention to several problems created by Cerberus/Steward that threaten the health and safety of patients as well as the security of members' jobs and futures, including Cerberus/Steward's well-established habits of: threatening to close hospitals and eliminate essential programs and services; breaking its promise to provide its MNA nurses and healthcare professionals with the fair pension plan that was negotiated; utilizing Wall Street-style management tactics that harm patients and those caring for them; firing nurses and union advocates without just cause; and refusing to provide safe, appropriate staffing levels and equipment. W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G As part of the day's events, the nurses and healthcare professionals also visited the Occupy Boston site in Dewey Square, drawing attention to the fact that Cerberus/Steward exemplifies the unbridled corporate greed that has undermined the middle class. "We are here because your fight is our fight and because we are the ones who are caring for the 99 percent," said Joan Ballantyne, an MNA member and staff nurse working at Cerberus/Steward's Norwood Hospital. "We are also here because our nurses who work for Cerberus/Steward are working for a corporation that epitomizes the 1 percent that is actively working to undermine the middle class in America." "You are an inspiration to millions of Americans," added Ballantyne, "and the nurses of Massachusetts stand with you in this fight for a just and equitable future for our country." —David Schildmeier N AT I O N A L N U R S E 7

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