Strike Averted: SEIU, Hospital Reach Agreement
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — An agreement was reached between health-care workers and Northern Berkshire Healthcare late Thursday night, averting a strike.1199SEIU and NBH returned to the bargaining table at 10 a.m. Thursday after a weeklong break and at the urging of Sen. Benjamin B. Downing and Rep. Daniel E. Bosley. A tentative contract was reached at 9 p.m., according to reports from both sides.
"We are pleased that North Adams Regional Hospital and 1199SEIU have reached a tentative contract agreement after a productive day of talks," said health-care officials in a statement. "We wish to thank all of the parties involved for their hard work and commitment to the process. It reflects a common understanding of the change required to adapt to an evolving world."
Local chapter Chairman Michael O'Brien said, "The agreement meets the union's core concerns around guaranteed hours of work and meets the hospital's core concerns around operational flexibility and fiscal needs.
"The negotiating committee has unanimously recommended the agreement to the general membership. As a result, the strike notice has been rescinded."
The compromise ends weeks of an increasingly acrimonious negotiation that erupted into the public arena over the past few weeks. SEIU members voted last week to authorize a strike effective Saturday if a deal could not be reached. NBH officials have said concessions from the union were imperative as it deals with an $8.1 million shortfall.
The sticking point has been the ability of North Adams Regional Hospital, a subsidiary of Northern Berkshire Healthcare, to use "flexible" staffing according to need. SEIU, which represents 174 employees ranging from housekeeping to licensed practical nurses, said such flexible staffing would turn them into on-call workers.
O'Brien said the talks produced "a mutually satisfactory agreement" and that more details on the contract would be released tomorrow. The membership is expected to vote on the ratification of the two-year contract early next week; the Northern Berkshire board of trustees will also have to approve it. The last contract lapsed on Sept. 30.
"The members of 1199SEIU at North Adams Regional Hospital want to thank the elected leaders and the community at large for their support," said O'Brien. "We want to thank everyone who contacted the hospital, wrote letters to the editor, and who offered their day-to-day support on the streets of North Adams."
The celebrating may be premature, however. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents the hospital's registered nurses, begins negotiating its contract early next year.
Union members will vote on ratifying the contract during the day and evening of Tuesday, Dec. 15. Voting will be conducted in the first-floor conference room in the Holiday Inn. The 1199SEIU member bargaining committee has unanimously recommended the proposed contract to the general 1199SEIU membership at NARH.
