CMMC Nurses March on Boss in Solidarity with Colleagues Unlawfully Suspended or Fired

Registered nurses at Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston, Maine, held a march on the boss in solidarity with nurses who were unlawfully suspended or fired by Prime Healthcare for speaking up for their patients. The nurses are currently in the process forming a union with the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC). RNs at Olympia Fields, Saint Francis, and CMMC, filed petitions on Aug. 24 with the National Labor Relations Board to hold union elections to join NNOC. Nurses also held a protest in Olympia Fields, Illinois against Prime’s union busting.

In gross violation of national labor laws, Prime Healthcare over the past week has retaliated against registered nurses for speaking up and fighting for their patients at two of its Chicago-area hospitals, suspending or firing nurses. Nurses are demanding the immediate reinstatement of their colleagues.

The nurses were legally joining in on union activities to have a stronger voice in patient care. Workers’ rights to participate in activities to form a union are federally protected under the National Labor Relations Act. The conditions driving Prime nurses to take unprecedented collective action at their hospitals are part of a broader pattern of Prime negligence and cutting services despite its profits. In 2024, Prime Healthcare made an estimated $4.4 billion in revenue according to credit reports, and Prime’s nonprofit system, Prime Healthcare Foundation, reported another $1.4 billion in revenue in their audited report.