WBUR, January 5, 2012 Boston - The National Labor Relations Board has filed a formal complaint against Steward Health Care for firing a nurse involved in organizing a union. A spokesman for the Massachusetts Nursing (sic) Association, David Schildmeier, says Steward was trying to scare off other unions by punishing the nurse. “They have actually gone after her ability to practice her profession as a way to punish her simply for wanting a union in her facility and for doing nothing wrong,” he said. “That is just unconscionable behavior and it’s beyond the pale.” Steward Health Care says in a statement that the nurse was fired for medical errors, and that her union-organizing activities played no role in her dismissal.

For Illegal Firing of a Nurse at Holy Family Hospital & for Violations of Nurses’ Union Rights in an Attempt to Discourage Nurses’ Participation in the Union. This is the Third Complaint filed by the NLRB Against Cerberus-Steward Since Taking Over Control of More than 10 Hospitals in Massachusetts.
The Nurses’ Union Has Also Filed Dozens of Grievances Against the For-Profit Owner for Its Wanton Violation of Union Rights. Massachusetts Nurses Association, January 5, 2012
 Methuen – The National Labor Relations Board this week issued a formal complaint against Cerberus-Steward Health Care, citing the organization for its illegal firing of an exemplary long-term nurse at Holy Family Hospital ... National

Jon Chesto, Patriot Ledger, December 21, 2012 Big Sky Balloons & Searchlights has produced plenty of giant, inflatable rodents since the company first created Scabby the Rat for a Chicago union 21 years ago. The rats are by far the most popular protest balloon. But its Plainfield, Illinois, plant has also produced a giant “Greedy Pig” and a leering “Corporate Fat Cat.” However, this was the first time that company co-owner Peggy O’Connor can remember being asked to build a mythological creature – in this case, an evil three-headed dog named Cerberus. ... Forget

Chelsea Conaboy, Boston Globe, December 26, 2011 The Massachusetts Nurses Association and its parent union staged a protest in New York Tuesday afternoon, near the headquarters of the Steward Health Care system parent company Cerberus. The demonstration was meant to draw attention to what the union says are profit-driven decisions that compromise patient care. Union spokesman David Schildmeier said that the group had 108 people en route to the city from Greater Boston, and he expected about 150 more to show up there, including members of the national union and some Occupy Wall Street demonstrators. ... Cerberus

Marc Larocque, Taunton Daily Gazette, December 21, 2011

Taunton - Janet DeMoranville is standing up against a private equity investment firm that now owns Morton Hospital, where she has worked for 13 years, saying the company is more concerned about profits than patients. “They are just out to make money,” said DeMoranville, describing the motives of Cerberus, which has bought 10 hospitals in Massachusetts, including Morton, as part of Steward Health Care. “They don’t care how they do it, or what cuts they have to make to get it. They have to realize that health care is not a money-making business. It’s a patient care industry. That’s what it needs to be about.”

Cerberus dogged over pensions, patient care.
Jerry Kronenberg, Boston Herald, December 21, 2011

Unionized nurses are upping their dosage of anger at Hub hospital owner Cerberus Capital Management, picketing the firm’s Manhattan offices amid contract disputes and alleged nickel-and-diming of patient care. “Patients should come first, but that’s not Cerberus’ priority. Their priority is making a profit (by) decreasing patient care,” said Boston nurse Karen Higgins, one of some 400 people who protested outside the private-equity firm’s Park Avenue offices yesterday.

Mark Brenner & Mischa Gaus, Labor Notes, December 20, 2011 Nurses sang sour carols today to the private equity firm they say is starving Massachusetts hospitals and pitting workers against each other. Massachusetts nurses came to the headquarters of Cerberus Capital in Manhattan because Cerberus is the money behind Steward Health Systems, which took over the troubled Catholic hospital system Caritas last year and now is squeezing patients and workers for ultra-profits. Hundreds of fellow members of National Nurses United, the Massachusetts nurses’ national union, sang and chanted outside Cerberus this afternoon. ... Nurses

Nina Bernstein, New York Times, December 20, 2011 Instead of the inflatable rat that has become ho-hum at union protests in New York, a giant three-headed dog with fangs was the effigy on display as about 250 unionized nurses rallied outside the Midtown headquarters of the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. Last year the firm added 10 mostly Catholic community hospitals in the Boston area to its portfolio, promising to keep the same level of services or to provide even better services. But carrying signs that proclaimed “Cerberus Is a Lying Dog,” and that urged “Get Wall Street Out of Health Care” ... Nurses

Mike Hall, AFL-CIO, December 20, 2011 On New York City’s Park Avenue today, hundreds of nurses from National Nurses United (NNU) and their supporters rallied outside the offices of Cerberus Capital Management to protest the practices of the multi-billion dollar private equity firm’s health care unit, Steward Health Care System. Cerberus-Steward operates 10 hospitals in Massachusetts and has partnered with a number of physician practices in New York City. It is entering the health insurance market as well. Cerberus-Steward has come under increasing criticism for cornering the market with predatory practices, undercutting patient care with its push for profits. ... Nurses

Alicia Caramenico, FierceHealthcare, December 20, 2011 Nurses from seven states (Massachusetts, New York, Washington, DC, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Nevada) are heading to New York City to protest expanding hospital operator Steward Health Care System, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA). The nurses scheduled to gather today outside the offices of Cerberus Capital Management, Steward's owner, protest the company's "predatory practices" that they say are jeopardizing patient care in exchange for profits. ... Nurses

Union's Executive Director's Testimony under oath contradicts rhetoric. Steward Health Care System LLC, December 20, 2011 Boston - Today, Steward Health Care System LLC (Steward) was again attacked by the MNA leadership in their continuing efforts to mislead the public ... "Recent news that the American Nurses Association (ANA) has suspended the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) for an inappropriate relationship with the MNA leadership demonstrates how reckless and irresponsible the MNA leadership will act in pursuit of their own agenda" ... Steward

Nurses Warn: Wall Street Targeting Hospitals for Profits. Cerberus Private Equity’s Steward Health unit called “predatory”; Patient care down. “The cupboards are bare” – Steward Nurses Say. MNA nurses will be attending from Cerberus-Steward owned Carney Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center, Holy Family Hospital, Merrimack Valley Hospital, Morton Hospital, Norwood Hospital, Quincy Medical Center and Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center. Massachusetts Nurses Association, December 19, 2011 New York City - Hundreds of nurses and their supporters from across the US will converge outside the offices of Cerberus Capital Management ... Massachusetts

Massachusetts Nurses Association, December 14, 2011 It’s time to put nurses in the Hall of Fame. For the 12th time in 13 years, nurses have earned top honors in the annual Gallup poll on ethics and honesty. The Gallup organization does a yearly survey asking Americans to rate “the honesty and ethical standards” of various professions. “Nurses consistently top the list, having done so each year since they were first included in 1999,” Gallup reported Monday, including the 2011 survey. The one exception was in 2001, just after the terror attacks of September 11, when firefighters topped the list. ... Nurses

Dan Crowley, Daily Hampshire Gazette, December 1, 2011

Northampton - Fearing a nurses strike, Cooley Dickinson Hospital has lined up a national health-care specialist firm which is ready to bring in a team of nurses should a work stoppage occur, although union members say the move is a scare tactic designed to win over nurses at the bargaining table. In a detailed memo sent to all hospital staff Tuesday, President and CEO Craig Melin said the hospital believes the Massachusetts Nurses Association is considering asking Cooley Dickinson's registered nurses to vote to authorize a strike. Hospital officials say there are other indications of a potential work stoppage.

Alex Spanko, Patriot Ledger, November 30, 2011 Canton - Donna Kelly-Williams won a second term as president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association in October, after overseeing a major change at the Canton-based union during her first two years in office. Two months after Kelly-Williams took the reins in October 2009, the association joined with two other nurses' unions to form National Nurses United, a Silver Spring, Maryland-based group that now represents 170,000 nurses across the country. ... Standing