Baystate Franklin Nurses Reach Tentative Agreement, Averting Strike and Securing Contractual Improvements to Help Ensure Safe Patient Care for the Community

Baystate moved in negotiations as nurses prepared to issue strike notice; agreement addresses patient safety, health insurance and competitive compensation

GREENFIELD, Mass., Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center (BFMC), represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), reached a tentative contract agreement with Baystate Health on September 28. Baystate moved on key issues as nurses were on the verge of issuing notice for a 14-day strike.

"This is an enormous victory for patients, nurses and the Franklin County community," said Suzanne Love, an Emergency Department RN and Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "We stayed united and persisted over several months of a coordinated community campaign because our patients need safe staffing. In the end, Baystate moved toward us and we reached an agreement because nurses and our community supporters refused to give up."

Highlights of the tentative agreement include:

• Emergency Department and Mental Health Unit staffing: Additional staffing in both units to address patient safety concerns.
• Health insurance: Contractual protections addressing nurses' concerns about affordability.
• Mandatory on call: Compensation for surgical services nurses required to remain available for emergencies.
• Medical-surgical staffing: Improved RN staffing language for medical-surgical units.
• Competitive wages: In the first year of the contract, nurses will get an average of a 6.2% raise and 13% over the life of the agreement, which expires on 12/31/28. These increases will support RN recruitment and retention and help ensure safe patient care.

The tentative agreement follows months of internal and community organizing by BFMC nurses. In April, nurses voted 98.2% to authorize a potential strike. In June, they voted 98% to reject Baystate's "best and final" offer.

More than 700 community members signed a petition supporting BFMC nurses, and the Greenfield City Council unanimously approved a resolution backing their fight for a fair contract and safe patient care. Additionally, hundreds of community and union members filled out and sent postcards to the Baystate Health Board of Trustees. The campaign received tremendous support from many other unions, as well as from elected officials.

"Baystate Franklin nurses came together to make this agreement possible through our solidarity and the support of our community," said Marissa Potter, RN and Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "We are incredibly proud to have stood up and fought when safe patient care was on the line. Baystate Health made the right move by agreeing to a fair contract, avoiding a strike, and making an important investment in nurses and patients."

BFMC nurses will vote to ratify the tentative agreement in the coming days.

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 26,000 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.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association