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BMC Nurses Plan Another Strike

Josh Landes
/
WAMC
BMC Nurses demonstrating on hospital grounds in February.

Berkshire Medical Center nurses have called for a one-day strike in their negotiations with the Pittsfield, Massachusetts hospital. WAMC’s Josh Landes has more.

21 months into contract talks with BMC, Massachusetts Nurses Association members plan to start a one-day strike at 7 a.m. on June 18th. Registered nurse and union bargaining committee member Amber Van Bramer says the hospital came up short at Monday night’s meeting.

“There was no relief for night shift and only two nurses for the around 300-bed hospital that we have,” Van Bramer told WAMC.

Nurses did strike for one day in October 2017 and were then locked out by the hospital for four days. They voted to strike again in January, and almost acted on it in February. The hospital calls the scheduled strike “regrettable”, but says it is prepared for it.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.
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