NBH Looks to Community for Support in Union Talks
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Negotiations on another two-year contract between North Adams Regional Hospital and the local chapter of 1199SEIU have been at loggerheads over scheduling, overtime and other issues.
SEIU, Service Employee International Union, represents a wide range of health-care workers, including licensed practical nurses. The membership held an informational picket and rally on Tuesday, Nov. 24, across from the hospital during a break in contract talks.
Members were told to be prepared Monday to ratify a contract — or authorize a strike notice.
In a lengthy letter full-page ad published in the local newspapers and acquired by iBerkshires.com late Sunday evening, Northern Berkshire Healthcare trustees outlined the health-care systems ailing financial condition.
The region's high poverty rate and elderly population, combined with lower reimbursements from state and federal health programs Medicare and MassHealth and the global recession, has hit the hospital hard. The health-care system's budget shortfall this year is $8.1 million, double last year's.
"We must act quickly and aggressively to reduce costs and restore NBH's financial health," said trustees, stressing both its role as health-care provider and "the economic significance of NBH in our community: more than 900 jobs and $125 million in 2009."
NBH says its asking the union to share the pain that nonunionized workers are feeling through freezes, wage reductions, no sick-time "buy-back," added duties and less paid time off.
The lack of a buy-back cap on sick time, outdated overtime rules such as requiring full-timers to be called in before per-diem workers and the inability to change pension and insurance premium contributions are adding to the high costs, they say.
Hospital officials say it's imperative that the union makes concessions; the union says those concessions would eliminate maternity leave, give supervisors the right to send workers home without pay during "down times" and float workers into different positions at whim.
Negotiations were expected to go into Monday; the union had planned two memberships meetings on Monday, one at 1 p.m. and the second at 6 p.m.
