St. Mary's nurses locked out until Sunday after 2 day of strike, union says
LANGHORNE, Pa. - Hundreds of nurses in Bucks County say they have now been locked out of St. Mary Medical Center by the owners as they went on strike for a second day on Wednesday.
The union representing the 700-plus nurses that went on strike Tuesday and Wednesday, Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals, says Trinity Health Care has hired out-of-state agency nurses and locked out their own staff until 7 a.m. Sunday.
The strike was scheduled to end at 7 a.m. on Thursday morning.
The nurses say the main issue that prompted the strike is low staffing due to low wages. They have also said they fear the staffing situation will only grow more dire as COVID-19 hospitalizations rise this winter.
MORE: Hundreds of nurses go on strike at St. Mary Medical Center Tuesday
Trinity Health, the Catholic health system that owns St. Mary, said in a previous statement that it would hire “qualified, professional agency nurses” during the strike so that the hospital can remain open.
Officials said the union rejected a compensation offer that it called “very competitive for nurses working in Bucks County” while also taking into account the financial impact of the pandemic. They criticized the nurses for striking “when the country and our local community contend with a COVID-19 surge."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.