Unionized nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center have accused their employer of not sharing data to back up its negotiating position and of admonishing nurses who talk about ongoing contract negotiations on the job, even if the conversation is out of earshot from patients and their families.
“Our members are frightened,” said Donna Stern, of Greenfield, a staff nurse at Baystate Franklin and a co-chairwoman of the bargaining unit. “Our relationship with our supervisors here is pretty good. Our issue with Baystate corporate in Springfield. But this has to stop.”
She said nurses don’t discuss union business in hospital rooms, admitting desks, waiting rooms and other palaces patients are likely to congregate. But they do reserve the right to talk at nurses stations, break rooms and the cafeteria.
The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled a formal hearing for Oct. 2 in Boston on both issues, the sharing of information and the workplace talk, according to a ruling dated June 28 and publicized Friday by the nurses union.
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