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Albany Med Nurses' Picket Plans Stymied

ICU nurse Jennifer Bejo says "...it breaks my heart in two that I've seen so many of these amazing nurses leave AMC to seek out better opportunities at other upstate unionized hospitals."
Gabe Kristal
The nurses took their patient care concerns public July 19th across the street from Albany Med's main entrance.

A picket by unionized nurses at Albany Medical Center is off for now.

The nurses are negotiating their first contract since voting to join the New York State Nurses Association in April 2018.

Spokesperson Gabe Kristal says the union has withdrawnplans to picket about patient care concerns July 31st after the hospital took legal action.  "They found a technicality with the way that we submitted our notice to picket."

An unfair labor practice charge alleges the union violated federal law by announcing the picket before mediators could intervene. Kristal says members will hold a caregivers forum at the Hilton Garden Inn on what would have been picket day.  "We certainly hope we're able to settle the contract without having to picket."

In a statement, Albany Med said it is negotiating “in good faith. Nobody more than us wants an agreement that is fair to everyone, including our patients.”

Here is the full statement:  

"We continue to negotiate in good faith, as we have for more than a year and  we are following the rules.  Our only problem is that the union did not.  A violation of law is not a technicality.  This one is designed to protect patients from disruptions caused by labor actions. 

Nobody more than us wants an agreement that is fair to everyone, including our patients.  We all need to work together to ensure that Albany Med remains strong into the future. "

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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