BUFFALO, N.Y. — The strike at Mercy Hospital has entered its second day after Catholic Health and CWA Local 1133 failed to reach a deal.
Union members were outside the hospital in South Buffalo overnight and the CWA says 2,500 members are prepared to continue this strike for as long as it takes to get a fair deal from Catholic Health.
Catholic Health President and CEO Mark Sullivan insisted that he presented what the CWA was looking for in the last contract proposal.
CWA area director Debbie Hayes, however, fired back and said a solution for staffing, a top priority for the union, wasn't presented until the final hours and they ultimately chose not to delay their strike. It's still unclear when negotiations could resume.
"I want to be very, very clear we are ready willing, and able to get back to the bargaining table, we have federal mediators involved and if those federal mediators call us and say, I need you back, we'll be back there," Hayes said.
Meanwhile, Sullivan told 2 On Your Side during a press conference Friday afternoon, "We are in the middle of working with the department of health we are in the middle of stabilizing staff here at this facility and any other Mercy Hospital facilities. And we want to back at the table, but our number one priority that was thrust upon us was that we have safe patient care at Mercy and that's the priority of everyone at Catholic Health."
Mercy Hospital reportedly has about 200 patients being cared for by a few hundred replacement workers hired through a health care agency.
CWA members held a press conference Saturday afternoon at Mercy Hospital.
"We'd much rather be inside caring for our patients, so let's get this done. So we will work tomorrow to get a full understanding of what's in the papers they leftover at the building at Gateway where we are bargaining. We will look at getting something back together, and we will make sure that the mediator knows that we are going to respond even though what they plopped on the table was not a proposal they presented to the committee," said Deborah Hayes, CWA Upstate Director. "Our committee is ready, willing, and able to get back to the bargaining table to look at what they plopped down there after we left, and to get something to them in writing that represents what we need to get the strike settled."
Catholic Health did not make anyone available for interviews on Saturday, but released a statement saying they are willing to resume negotiations, but before deciding when to do that, it needs "full written proposals from CWA on all open items."
Catholic Health also says it's been negotiating with the union since February.
Workers told 2 On Your Side on Saturday night that they will be back on the picket line in South Buffalo at 5 in the morning on Sunday.