ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A vote that starts today could have critical and long-lasting impacts on health care in the Asheville area.
After months of back and forth, tensions between Mission Hospital and its nurses are coming to a head. Nurses will vote over four days — starting Sunday, Aug. 25 — on whether to authorize union leaders to call a strike.
About 1,600 Mission nurses are represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United and are eligible to vote.
Mission Hospital and its unionized nurses have been at the bargaining table since April, trying to settle their differences and reach a new agreement. Their most recent contract — ratified in 2021 — was the nurses’ first union contract, and it expired July 2, 2024.
While the sides have agreed on several issues, union nurses said in an earlier news release they still have “deep concerns about safe staffing and patient care” — a claim Mission Health has continually refuted.
According to the Mission Nurses United Instagram page, nurses may vote in the cafeteria during shift changes or lunch on Aug. 25, 26, 28 and 29.
“We’ve been gearing up for this moment — make your plan to strike for our patients, our community and each other,” one Instagram post said.
Mission Nurses United has taken to social media with tips as members consider a strike:
- Option 1: Pick up shifts. Taking an extra shift now can cover a missed shift while on strike.
- Option 2: Strike fund. Community members have created a strike fund for nurses who would experience financial hardship with a strike.
- Option 3: PTO cash-in. PTO can be turned into money on your paycheck. Be aware you may need to use a few extra hours of PTO to equal the work missed.
A spokesperson for National Nurses United said it will be a majority vote. If a majority of those who vote call for a strike, the union could then authorize a strike. If it does, nurses will have to give the hospital and government 10 days’ notice, a National Nurses United spokesperson said in an interview earlier this summer.
A Mission Hospital bargaining fact sheet urged nurses to consider all the facts before casting their votes.
“The union’s latest false claim that you must choose between striking or ‘accept(ing) the hospital’s pitiful offers’ is simply untrue,” the fact sheet said. “We have additional bargaining dates on Aug. 27 (during the vote), Sept. 9 and Oct. 4, and the hospital is willing to agree to additional subsequent dates as well. There is no deadline or ultimatum and, whether there is a strike or not, bargaining will continue until we have an agreement.”
Hospital officials said they do not anticipate any impact on patient care.
“We are fully prepared to operate through a strike and are confident that it will be safe for our patients and for any nurse who makes the personal decision to cross the picket line,” according to the fact sheet.
Last month, Reclaim Healthcare WNC officially launched with a website, a Facebook page and a plan to hold HCA accountable and bring about the sale of Mission Health. The grassroots effort also has a GoFundMe page.
According to its website, the coalition aims to:
- Replace Healthcare Corporation of America (HCA) with a nonprofit hospital system that will better meet the needs of WNC
- Hold HCA accountable for its harmful culture and practices
- Restore best-in-class healthcare throughout the Mission system
MORE MISSION HOSPITAL NURSE COVERAGE
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By the numbers: Closer look at Mission nurses’ negotiations
‘Nobody wants strike to be the end goal’ nurse says
Clock ticking on talks to avert nurses’ strike at Mission Hospital