NMMC Nurses Protest, Announce Federal Charges Against Their Employer

Registered nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center (NMMC) in Fort Kent, Maine, protested outside their hospital today, calling on management to negotiate in good faith. The nurses, represented by the Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA), also announced they were filing an unfair labor practice (ULP) complaint against their employer.

“We wanted to start negotiations in March, but management only agreed to meet with us in April,” said Ami Maxwell, Registered Nurse in the NMMC emergency department and member of the union negotiating team. “We should now be getting closer to an agreement. But management is dragging its feet. They only met with us 12 times in eight months. They don’t even meet us in person. These were virtual meetings. The NMMC must pick up the pace and negotiate in good faith. They may not want to, but it’s their obligation under the law.”

NMMC nurses voted in January to join MSNA. The RNs’ first bargaining session with the hospital took place in April, but negotiations were slow due to management’s refusal to meet and reluctance to negotiate in good faith. That’s why the union announced it will file a ULP complaint with the National Labor Relations Board tomorrow. The union has offered NMMC more than 100 possible bargaining dates since March, but so far management has only met on seven of the union’s proposed dates, for a total of 12 meetings since April.

“We formed our union to better serve our community, for more transparency from our hospital, and to hold our employer accountable to its own stated values,” said Bradley Martinez, RN in emergency and intensive care. “But from the very beginning of our organizing campaign, through our successful union vote and now in contract negotiations, NMMC continues to show us the same lack of respect it always has. We are here today to show our employer and our community that we will not give up this fight because the stakes are simply too high for us and for our patients.

NMMC nurses recently denounced the abrupt closure of the hospital’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit (CAPU), which followed the closure of NMMC’s obstetrics unit in 2023.

“With all the necessary service shutdowns and its continued slowness at the bargaining table, NMMC is behaving as if it is accountable to no one,” said Maxwell. “But with the support of our community, we will continue to fight to make Northern Maine Medical Center the best place possible for all of us.”

The Maine State Nurses Association is part of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, which represents 4,000 nurses and other caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing registered nurses union in the United States, with nearly 225,000 members nationwide.