Registered Nurses from two Baystate Health System bargaining units will take action Saturday morning outside the Democratic State Convention in Springfield. The nurses will be joined by labor and community supporters. Convention delegates will be asked to join the nurses in condemning Baystate’s anti-union behavior.
Members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United who work at the Baystate Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice (BVNAH) in Springfield and Baystate Franklin Medical Center (BFMC) in Greenfield will highlight Baystate’s ongoing attempts to undercut their fundamental right to bargain over such basic issues as wages and health insurance.
Baystate also is attempting to force BFMC nurses to work mandatory overtime – even beyond twelve hours – a practice that has been shown to put nurses and patients at risk.
In addition, the National Labor Relations Board has determined that Baystate has repeatedly violated federal labor law in their anti-union campaign against nurses.