GREENFIELD — Amid contract negotiations, nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, are advocating for “a fair union contract that protects safe staffing levels,” “strengthens nurse recruitment and retention, and preserves access to high-quality care for the Greenfield area community.”
The MNA union, as part of a proposed contract with Baystate Health, is seeking an artificial intelligence policy to protect nurses’ jobs in the era of advanced AI technology, as well as regular cost-of-living rate increases for union workers. Other conditions include a continued “safe staffing grid,” or minimum nurse staffing levels for various hospital units.
“Franklin County has some of the lowest-paid nurses in this region. New nurses who are graduating from nursing programs are certainly looking at several factors, but one of them is pay,” Suzanne Love, co-chair of the Baystate Franklin MNA bargaining unit, said in an interview Friday. “We need to bring up the pay wages so that we are at least competitive with other area hospitals. We can attract the best and the brightest new nurses, and then also retain our experienced nurses.”
Love said the union has made progress in negotiating for a continued safe staffing grid — an issue that she said prompted nurses to go on strike during contract negotiations in 2017 and 2018. Maintaining a sufficient nursing staff in certain medical units, Love explained, is not only a condition of employment for the nurses, but essential for patient safety.
In initial negotiations, Love said Baystate leadership sought to eliminate safe staffing grid protections. The grids limit the number of patients assigned to a nurse depending on the hospital unit. Nurses say weakening or dismantling those protections would jeopardize patient safety, increase burnout and make it harder to retain nurses.
However, Love noted that hospital management has since been receptive to maintaining these staffing protections in the new contract.
“In the Emergency Room or Obstetrics & Gynecology, where people show up because they need emergency care or because they’re about to give birth, anyone who walks in the door, you treat them. You cannot turn people away, nor should you be able to turn people away,” she said. “If it’s decided that the best thing for [a patient’s] care is that they need to be hospitalized, they will move to the medical surgical unit, if there is a physical bed available for them to go into; and also, if there is adequate nursing staff to provide them the level of care that they need for their medical condition. Before, we didn’t have any kind of protection for how many patients a nurse would care for at the same time.”
The current contract expired at the end of 2025, and both the union and hospital management have since agreed to two extensions to prevent management to prevent the union from going on strike, according to Love.
In an emailed statement on Wednesday, Maura Tobias, a spokesperson for Baystate Health, said both parties have negotiated in “good faith” and have brought a federal mediator into negotiations to assist with reaching an agreement.
“Baystate Franklin Medical Center nurses provide quality and compassionate care to all patients in our community, and we continue to be committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a fair agreement,” Tobias wrote. “Our conversations have been productive and both parties have agreed to extend the current contract through March 31, 2026, to allow continued good-faith negotiations, and a federal mediator will be engaged to assist in reaching a final and sustainable agreement.”
Love explained that the union has three bargaining sessions planned up until March 27. The union is seeking a two-year contract agreement, she said, while Baystate management is seeking a three-year contract.
“I’ve seen contracts take two and a half years and 42 sessions to get done. … Management started this thing that they thought that we could get this done by Dec. 31, but then they weren’t coming through with what we needed to be able to do that. We’re hoping we can get this thing settled,” she said. “We nurses take a lot of pride in providing care to the people of Franklin County. … We’re committed to getting a fair contract to attract the best nurses possible to provide care in the community.”
Last week, the nurses delivered a petition to hospital management in the form of a giant banner calling for a fair contract. Marissa Potter, co-chair of the Baystate Franklin MNA bargaining unit, said in a statement that the petition, signed by an overwhelming majority of Baystate Franklin’s nurses, demonstrates broad support and strong energy.
“An overwhelming majority of Baystate Franklin nurses signed this petition because we all understand what is at stake,” Potter said. “We are seeking a contract that supports recruitment and retention so we can continue providing high-quality care close to home. Franklin County patients deserve to know their hospital is staffed safely and sustainably.”