07.15.2008

Franklin Medical Center Nurses to Testify to Workers Rights Board

Contact: Jon Weissman, (413) 827-0301

On Thursday July 10, a panel of the Western Massachusetts Jobs with Justice Workers' Rights Board will take the testimony of nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield and issue a report on collective bargaining there. The hearing will be 6:00-7:30pm at First Congregational Church, 43 Silver Street, Greenfield. The public, the press, and the employer are invited. Attendees are asked to come fragrance-free.

Across the U.S., Workers’ Rights Boards act as “the conscience of the community” regarding labor relations, exposing employers' misconduct and also helping workers form unions and reach collective bargaining contracts. There is more information at Jobs with justice.

The Western Mass. Jobs with Justice Workers' Rights Board consists of two dozen “public citizens” in Western Massachusetts. The following are on the July 10 panel:

Anne Awad, President/CEO, Caring Health Center Inc (Springfield); Health Systems Consultant;

Amherst Select Person Mary Lavo Ford, Non-profit Manager; former Outreach Director, Community Health Center of Franklin County; former Mayor of Northampton Ward Morehouse, co-founder, Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy

Rev. Armand Proulx, Second Congregational Church of Greenfield

Al Siano, Greenfield City Councilor

Miryam Ehrlich Williamson, Medical Writer; former Warwick Select Board member

The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) has been bargaining a new contract at Baystate Franklin Medical Center (BFMC) since October 2007. The employer, Baystate Health in Springfield, is showing an anti-union animus at the bargaining table. It hired Howard Bloom from the well-known union-busting law firm, Jackson Lewis. More information at American Rights at Work.

Ann Lewin RN will conduct the testimony by BFMC nurses and also provide basic information. She is the MNA Senior Chair at BFMC. A nurse for 26 years, she has been at BFMC for 6 years.