Nurses at a western Massachusetts hospital have taken a strike vote as contract talks have stalled. WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports
The Massachusetts Nurses Association reported the vote by 209 members of the union at Baystate Franklyn Medical Center was overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing union leaders to call a strike. It does not mean a strike will happen. If the union declares a strike there would be ten days notice before the nurses could walk out. The union and management at the Greenfield hospital have been bargaining since last October. The old contract expired last Spring. The dispute centers on wages, benefits, and work rules.
