Northern Berkshire Healthcare, Nurses Settle Contract

Local MNA co-chairwomen Ruth O'Hearn, left, and Mary McConnell and member Linda Freeney.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The registered nurse's union had expected to be holding a rally on Thursday to prep its members for a strike come morning at North Adams Regional Hospital. Instead, its leaders took the stage to announce a hard-won victory in the form of a tentative three-year agreement.

"We kicked some booty last night," said Linda Freeney, to cheers from the nearly 90 Massachusetts Nurses Association members and supporters at St. Elizabeth's Parish Hall. The last two days of negotiations had dragged through the night with a consensus hammered out at about 10:30 Thursday morning.

"We've negotiated in the past with officials with the sense we were on even ground," said the past chairman of the local's bargaining unit. This time, she said, the negotiators had faced off with an outside labor attorney they've described as a "union buster." "We weren't asking for money. We really thought we were doing a pretty good job not asking for money."

MNA says it's been cognizant of Northern Berkshire Healthcare's precarious finances. The community hospital has taken a beating in the last few years as the economy soured and Medicaid payments failed to keep pace with costs. The last two days of negotiations set off rumors of Chapter 11 restructuring, reports hospital officials say are premature.

"While we have no news to report regarding NBH's ongoing efforts to address financial challenges facing the organization, we continue to be in discussion with our bondholders and largest creditors regarding ways to address our debt burden," officials said in brief statement on Thursday evening. iBerkshires had requested on Wednesday a response to a report the bankrupcy filing was raised during negotiations.

What the nurses did get wasn't completely clear Thursday night (members will be mailed the details later this week in anticipation of a ratification vote) but it was apparent that Northern Berkshire Healthcare negotiators had conceded ground on flexible scheduling. The nurses agreed to a limited number of "flexible" days and gave up step raises. MNA, representing some 100 registered nurses, had objected to scheduling they say would have forced them to work double shifts — or sent them home mid-shift — at the hospital's whim. 

Scheduling "as-needed" would not only disrupt the lives and paychecks of the nurses, they said, it would put patients' safety at risk from exhausted nurses or understaffed floors.  For his part, NBH President Richard Palmisano said in a statement that "the settlement addresses the critical need for flexible staffing policies and fiscal responsibility."
 

The flexible scheduling issue was a major factor in the near strike by 1199SEIU, representing licensed practical nurses, technicians, clinicians, kitchen workers and others, in December.

Michael O'Brien, president of the local 1199SEIU, one of several labor organizations and units there in support, called it "deja vu all over again."

Both unions have professed solidarity with each other and the community. At the rally, they began passing out letters to attendees addressed to Mayor Richard Alcombright and city councilors expressing a desire for all stakeholders in the community to work together to ensure any merger undertaken by the health care system preserves the community hospital and its contracts.

The letter campaign is directed to Palmisano and the board of trustees, said O'Brien, with the message that "the union and the community should be at the table so nobody can pull a fast one."

The health-care system has considered merger as an option, with the mostly likely candidate Berkshire Health Systems to the south, which comes with its own financial woes. BHS last month announced cuts affecting more than 100 workers as it grapples with an $11 million loss.

NBH saw its bond rating drop to "negative outlook" in March for "worsening operating losses, a deteriorating cash position, and continued delay in the sale of its underperforming senior care businesses." The health system recently sold off its elder facilities, which wiped out nearly $20 million in debt liability. At the time, Palmisano told the North Adams Transcript that the hospital still has $46 million in outstanding debt.

In a statement, hospital officials said:

As we have said in the past, the significant amount of debt we have — which includes $4.2 million in annual debt service payments — is a serious impediment to our ability to conduct day-to-day operations. We want to assure the community that any strategy we are considering would be designed to ensure the long-term stability of North Adams Regional Hospital and will have no impact on our continued ability to provide high quality care to the community.

Northern Berkshire Healthcare, Nurses Settle Contract
Original story, Sept. 2, 2:40 p.m.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The local chapter of the Massachusetts Nurses Association says it has reached a tentative agreement with Northern Berkshire Healthcare 24 hours before it was set to go on strike.

In a statement released earlier today, the union said "marathon negotiations" over the past two days resulted in the agreement early this morning. A strike was scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. on Friday.

"We are very pleased that after a long night of discussions, negotiators for North Adams Regional Hospital and the Massachusetts Nurses Association arrived at a tentative contract settlement," said NBH President and CEO Richard Palmisano, in a statement. "We cannot discuss details of the proposed contract pending ratification by the MNA and the NBH board of trustees. However, the settlement addresses the critical need for flexible staffing policies and fiscal responsibility."

Talks have been ongoing since January, just month after North Adams Regional Hospital's other union representing licensed practial nurses, technicians and clinical and kitchen workers, 1199SEIU, settled just days before it was set to strike.

Negotiations with the registered nurses was just as contentious, with each side trying to represent the other as stubborn and overpaid. The sticking point for the nurses was a proposal from the hospital that they said would essentially allow them to be called in or dismissed from their shifts dependent on patient count. Hospital officials, meanwhile, have insisted that the nurses had to make some concessions in light of the facility's fragile finances.

"We are satisfied and relieved that we were able to work out a tentative settlement that serves the needs of our patients and our members," said bargaining unit Chairwoman Ruth O'Hearn in the statement. "We want to thank the community for the out pouring of support we have received. Everywhere we went our neighbors, our friends and our patients offered us their support. This positive settlement never would have been possible without the community's backing.

"It is our hope that after these contentious negotiations we will be able to work with the hospital as they go through their difficult financial problems and possible affiliation with Berkshire Medical Center."

Palmisano said the health system wanted to thank everyone "for recognizing the need for shared sacrifice" and looked forward to working in cooperation to care for the community.

The local plans a ratification vote in the near future. A pre-strike rally set for 5 p.m. at St. Elizabeth's Parish Center will now be a celebration.

Updated at 3:30 p.m. to add Palmisano's comments.
 

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