Worcester Nurses To Rally Before Strike Deadline

© Neal McNamara/Patch A December rally outside St. Vincent Hospital featuring dozens of nurses.

WORCESTER, MA — With a strike deadline looming on Monday, nurses at Worcester’s St. Vincent Hospital will host a pre-strike rally this weekend.

The nurses a 10-day strike notice on Feb. 24 amid contract negotiations with hospital leaders. The nurses are asking for boosted staffing levels and a change in how shifts are scheduled. The two sides have not agreed on a way forward since then.

If the two sides do not reach an agreement over the next 72 hours, nurses will walk off the job on Monday at 8 a.m.

On Sunday at 4:30 p.m., the nurses will rally near the corner of Central and Summer streets across from the hospital. They will be joined by supporters, union leaders and elected officials, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

If the strike happens, it will be the second for the St. Vincent nurses. They walked off the job in 2000 in a bid to join a union.

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