NORTH ADAMS — Registered nurses and management at North Adams Regional Hospital remained at an impasse over contract talks late Wednesday night, but both sides continued to negotiate as they hoped to avoid a nurses’ strike on Friday.
"We’re prepared to go to midnight or as long as it takes to get a contract," said Ruth O’Hern, chairwoman of the bargaining committee for the local union of the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
Hospital officials have declined to comment on the negotiations until they are complete.
Meanwhile the local union, which has 103 members, plans to stage a support rally today at 5 p.m. at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish Center. According to O’Hern, speakers will include national and state union leaders and labor leaders from Washington, D.C. Teachers, firefighters, police and other unions are expected to attend to lend support.
"We’d like to invite the public to come out and join us," O’Hern said.
The rally is expected to last about an hour and a half. The nurses’ strike, as of late Wednesday, was still planned for 6 a.m. on Friday.
— Glenn Drohan
