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Judge Rules Greenfield, Massachusetts, Hospital Broke Labor Laws

At Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Mass., one support person is allowed to attend a birth as long as they do not leave the patient's room before discharge.
Paul Franz
/
Daily Hampshire Gazette / gazettenet.com
Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

A judge has ruled that Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts, violated federal labor laws.

In 2017, nurses at Baystate Franklin voted to authorize a strike.

Around the same time, the hospital's security officers and skilled tradespeople like electricians and plumbers began discussing the possibility of joining unions.

According to a judge for the National Labor Relations Board, hospital officials tried to prevent that from happening, by among other things, engaging in coercive interrogation of employees about union activity.

Steve Maritas is with the security officers union, which filed a complaint.

"We knew that there was union busting going on and it came out in a court of law," he said. "It gives you an insight and look into what really happens in these type of union campaigns."

The judge also ruled that Baystate Franklin must reinstate one employee with back pay, and post a notice around the hospital that it violated federal labor law.

Baystate Health, the parent organization, says it's still reviewing the decision.

Before joining New England Public Media, Alden was a producer for the CBS NEWS program 60 Minutes. In that role, he covered topics ranging from art, music and medicine to business, education and politics.
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