National Nurses United

Baystate nurses authorize strike MASSACHUSETTS he registered nurses of Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Mass. cast an overwhelming vote in October to authorize a three-day strike in response to Baystate Health's refusal to engage in a good faith effort to reach a settlement for a new contract, a process that has dragged on for nearly two years and had forced a previous one-day strike by the nurses on Oct. 5, 2012. "The consensus is that no nurse wants to strike, but, as this vote shows, they will if Baystate does not drop its unreasonable demands and continues to refuse to negotiate in good faith," said Linda Judd, co-chair of the nurses' local bargaining unit at the hospital. The key issue preventing a settlement is Baystate Health's demand to eliminate the requirement that the employer pay overtime for consecutive hours worked beyond the end of an eight, 10, or 12-hour shift. The nurses adamantly oppose this practice because they know this protection is in place in all Massachusetts Nurses Association/NNU hospital contracts (which includes 70 percent of the hospitals in the state) and is a policy at most of the few non-union hospitals as well. "The nurses have been clear—they want to reduce and eliminate overtime as a T O C TO B E R 2 01 3 staffing tool. By contrast, Baystate simply wants to eliminate overtime pay, which removes the one disincentive from using overtime as a staffing tool," said Donna Stern, a nurse at the hospital and co-chair of the bargaining unit. "We will not allow them to place our patients or our nursing license in jeopardy." The nurses point out that this is not fundamentally an economic issue. Baystate said two years ago that the total daily overtime costs at BFMC for the RNs was $180,000 on an annual basis. That figure has now dropped to one-third that amount—approximately $60,000 annually. To put that figure in context, the total annual overtime costs for all 200 BFMC RNs is roughly equal to one week of Baystate Health CEO Mark Tolosky's pay and benefits. While demanding this concession, the hospital has refused to provide the information required by law to justify its demand, which has resulted in the National Labor Relations Board's filing of a complaint against the hospital for this and other unfair labor practices. A trial by the NLRB on those complaints will be held on Nov. 18. Nurses have made a concerted effort to reach a settlement, working closely with a federal mediator for months of negotiations to reach an equitable agreement, and even W W W. N AT I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G proposing resolution through binding arbitration. Baystate has refused, however. "We would be more than willing to forgo a strike if Baystate would agree to binding interest arbitration," said Judd. "The refusal by the hospital to submit their proposals for independent review speaks volumes and underscores why the nurses have taken a vote to authorize a strike." There has been an outpouring of support for nurses' collective bargaining rights over the last year. At the Democratic State Convention held in Springfield last summer, the convention delegates unanimously passed a resolution calling on Baystate to conduct good faith negotiations with the MNA nurses and come to a fair agreement. The Greenfield City Council passed a similar resolution last year. Thousands of Franklin County residents have signed a petition of support for the Baystate Franklin Medical Center nurses and delegations of community supporters and elected officials have called on Baystate to avoid further conflict and settle a fair contract with the nurses at BFMC. "The nurses appreciate the deep and broad community and political support that has been shown across Franklin County," Stern added, "and we ask all Franklin County residents to call on Baystate to work with the nurses to avoid a needless strike." —David Schildmeier N AT I O N A L N U R S E 5

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