About 2,000 nurses, technical and clerical employees at Mercy Hospital in South Buffalo went on strike this morning after Catholic Health System and the workers’ union failed to reach an agreement overnight. Hundreds of workers, members of the Communications Workers of America Local 1133, gathered outside the hospital this morning, carrying picket signs, as the strike began at 6 a.m.
Labor issue
Registered nurse Brianna Rodriguez walks the picket line.Â
United
More than 2,000 are striking outside the hospital.
Strike begins
Strikers cross the street as nurses leave the building at 6 a.m. and their strike begins.
Early morning strike
The nurses' primary issue with the hospital is short staffing.
A large presence
Strikers line the sidewalk around the hospital.
Picketing
Picketers along South Park Avenue.
Supporting the nurses
Nurses respond to support from passing cars.
Showing appreciation
One supporter shows appreciation for the nurses.
Nurses strike
Striking in front of the hospital.
Along South Park
Picketing along South Park Avenue.
Blocking replacements
Strikers block a van filled with replacement nurses from entering. They yell, "Go home scabs!"Â
Showing support
A passing car shows support.
Blocking the van from entry
Strikers block a van filled with replacement nurses from entering. They yell, "Go home scabs!"Â
No agreement
Nurses come out in mass to protest short staffing, among other issues.
Striker
Kerry Nowak is a registered nurse on the picket line.Â
Vocal opposition
Nurses are vocal.
Blocking replacements
Nurses block a van filled with replacements from entering.
Expressing opposition
One striker expresses opposition by putting his CWA sign up to the window of a van filled with replacements.
Walking around the building
Strikers along Choate Avenue.
Mercy Hospital strike
Strikers respond to support from passing cars.Â
Sending a message
Two strikers along Choate Street.
"We need to do a better job working together with the CWA, and they need to do a better job working together with us to bring this to resolution," said Mark Sullivan, Catholic Health's CEO.
"It's kind of a sad morning, because we hoped negotiations would result in an agreement, but it did not," said Debora Hayes, the CWA's area director.
Neither the hospital system nor the Communications Workers of America would say when talks would resume.
Debbie Hayes, upstate New York area director for CWA, explains the three issues at the center of the strike by Mercy Hospital nurses.
Mercy has suspended inpatient elective surgeries, and is diverting ambulances from the hospital and Mercy Ambulatory Care Center.
