GREENFIELD, Mass. — The twenty eighth negotiation session ended this evening with Baystate Health Systems refusing to make any movement on their dangerous and radical proposals. This was the last scheduled session before the one day strike called by the nurses for Friday October 3, 2012.
Over the last month the nurses have made many movements in an attempt to settle a fair contract. The nurses’ actions have not been matched by Baystate management. “We as nurses, who care for the patients of Franklin County believe if we were to accept Baystate’s proposals it would lead to very unsafe situations for our patients. In good conscience at this point we have no other choice but to hold our one day strike,” said local bargaining unit co-chair Linda Judd, RN.
The nurses now turn to continuing their plans for a peaceful one day strike. “We will be walking out at 7 a.m. on Friday morning and returning twenty four hours later. It is our sincere hope that Baystate Health Systems will finally put the safety of Franklin County patients ahead of their corporate profits,” said unit co-chair Donna Stern, RN.
-###-
______________________________________________
Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest professional health care organization and the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. The MNA is also a founding member of National Nurses United, the largest national nurses union in the United States with more than 170,000 members from coast to coast.
“
