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Visiting Nurses' Union Picket for More Pay, More Care Time

Former Visiting Nurse employee Sarah Roberts says the work is stressful and there are fewer people to do home care. That led her to go back to the hospital to work. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Unionized members of the Berkshire Visiting Nurses Association chanted "BHS you can't hide, we can see your greedy side" outside of Berkshire Medical Center during a picket for a fair contract on Monday.

Berkshire United, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, is negotiating its first contract with Berkshire Health Systems and union members say they are pushing for fair pay and productivity standards. Members see this as crucial to preserve staff and quality of care.

"As workload expectations have increased dramatically, pay has not. Our nurses make $5 to $10 less an hour than the state average for home-care nurses. They can make $9 to $15 more an hour and have a wage step scale by going over to the hospital working for the same employer," said union co-Chair Tamaryn Clowdus.

"Berkshire VNA has gone from a department that seldom had a staff vacancy to a department that is fighting to hire and retain staff. They have lost 34 permanent staff over the past two years, 11 since August of this year. We have lost four physical therapists and haven't been able to hire any replacements for two years. Our agency used to manage caseloads of 600 patients and now we struggle to manage caseloads of 300."

BVNA registered nurses, and physical, occupational, and speech therapists unionized two years ago and have two main asks for the contract:

• A wage step scale of the kind that MNA-represented nurses, health professionals, and other union members have in contracts throughout the commonwealth, including at BMC.
   
• Productivity language that reflects the reality of home care today and allows BVNA clinicians to spend an appropriate amount of time providing patient care and support and documenting.

Supporters joined the picket on North Street with holiday-themed signs — including the Grinch himself with a sign that read "BHS don't be a Grinch."

Director of Media Relations Michael Leary said BHS deeply values its skilled and compassionate home care clinicians who are integral to the mission of advancing the health and wellness of everyone in Berkshire County.

"We respect our employees' rights to organize, along with their rights to free speech and assembly. As always, we are committed to working with both our Berkshire VNA clinicians and the Massachusetts Nurses Association in good faith," he wrote.

"We have been holding productive, respectful negotiations with the MNA for more than a year and have proposed wages that are competitive within the home-care industry and productivity expectations that are consistent with home-care industry standards. We remain committed to negotiating in good faith, and we are confident that we will reach a fair and equitable agreement."

Former BVNA employee Sarah Roberts decided to go back to the hospital after more than two years of what she described as long stressful days with ambitious quotas to meet, lots of traveling, and insufficient pay.

"We are here tonight to stand together, to fight together, to win. Not just for our members, but most importantly for our patients, their families, and our community, who deserve a fully staffed VNA that can provide the best and most comprehensive patient care."
 

Pittsfield Schools See 'Very Modest' Chapter 70 Increase

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
06:01AM / Friday, January 30, 2026

The School Committee is expected to vote on a budget in April. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Public Schools will see a "very modest" increase in Chapter 70 funding for fiscal year 2027, and administrators are working to calculate exactly what that will mean. 

Gov. Maura Healey filed a nearly $63 billion budget on Wednesday that increases the city's school funding by $404,000. The Pittsfield schools dropped into a lower Chapter 70 funding category because it has fewer students considered low income. 

This year's expected Chapter 70 aid is just over $68.8 million. In FY26, the district received $68,450,361.

"While the FY27 budget reflects a modest increase over last year's budget, anticipated rising costs such as any current and potential contractual obligations, insurance increases, fuel increases, etc., will result in a budgetary shortfall," Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland reported on Wednesday. 

"The foundation budget also reflects that decrease in overall student enrollment, and this shapes the critical next phase of our work." 

In 2024, the discovery of 11 students meeting those income guidelines put the district in the higher funding category and added $2.4 million in Chapter 70 funds to the school budget. 

The district will review prior year spending trends and confirm district priorities before drafting the budget, which is about 80 percent contractual obligations for teachers, aides, administrators, and support staff. Embedded into the process is engagement with staff, the community, and the City Council. 

Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said that in some cases, the district may be able to reduce a current vacancy, but in other cases, there will be a significant effort to hire. 

"For example, for core subject classrooms, we have to fill those positions, and so we are taking a look at every position, every role, how it's being utilized to make recommendations for how we will balance this budget," she explained.