Nurses Protest at Baystate Dedication Cut "Respect Your Nurses" Ribbon

"We Will Not Let Them Steal Our Collective Bargaining Rights"

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Registered Nurses of two Baystate Health bargaining units today picketed and protested at the dedication of Baystate's $290 million dollar "Hospital of the Future." The RNs are members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United who work at the Baystate Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) and the Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield. Both units have been in prolonged contract negotiations. The RNs were joined by nurses from around the state and labor and community leaders.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20060525/NETH016LOGO)

To show Baystate's lack of respect the nurses cut a banner that said, "RESPECT YOUR NURSES."  "Baystate clearly demonstrates their lack of respect for us by how they deal with us in negotiations," said VNA Committee member Chris Clark, RN. "They are doing everything in their power to bust our union. We have spent the last 14 months at the table trying to reach an equitable solution, but every time we got close Baystate backed off. Then two weeks ago they illegally and unilaterally declared impasse, meaning that they have decided that negotiations are over and they will implement their last offer. The nurses have filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. We will not stand by quietly as they steal our collective bargaining rights. Today's protest is just the first step in what will be a long protracted struggle to protect our rights."

Recently Baystate launched an extensive ad campaign to promote their "partnership" with the community. According to the nurses management  sees none of this sense of community in the workplace.

"At Baystate Franklin Medical Center management has come after us with a vengeance," according to bargaining unit Co-Chair Donna Stern RN. "They want to calculate overtime pay in a new way that would cost many of our members thousands of dollars. They have a proposal that would limit the nurse's ability to negotiate over the health insurance premium split. They are also proposing to expand mandatory 'on-call' of nurses allowing them to bring in RNs when needed. These proposals would make it virtually impossible for a nurse to schedule their life."

The nurses do appreciate the fine job that the union construction workers have done in building the new wing to Baystate Medical Center, and the fact that Baystate agreed to complete the project with only construction union members. The nurses would like to see Baystate treat the unionized RNs equally as well. They are asking that the same respect shown to the construction unions be shown to the Baystate employees. The protest has used the slogan OCCUPY BAYSTATE to point out that Baystate, as one of the area's largest corporations, is acting only in their interest and in the interest of creating more profit.

Baystate has hired an expensive anti-union labor law firm to represent them in both negotiations. Jackson Lewis touts themselves as experts in "Union Avoidance." While the issues are slightly different in the negotiations, the attitude of the attorney representing Baystate is the same; they know what is best for the nurses and the organization and if the nurses don't agree the RNs just don't understand reality. Management continues to claim that the current economic situation, along with the unknowns of health care reform, should give them the right to offer little, if any, wage increases, strip benefits they say are outmoded, and ultimately to bust the union and eliminate their union rights.

According to the nurses the battle is only beginning. "We are rallying today with nurses from around the commonwealth, with supporters from organized labor throughout the Pioneer Valley and with a broad range of support from community groups. We have done billboards, newspaper and radio ads. This is just the beginning. We are fighting for the existence of our union and all the rights and benefits it brings us. We know that Baystate Health, the parent corporation, is very powerful and very profitable, but we will gain continued recognition, an equitable contract and respect," said Chris Clark.

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.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association