About 200 unionized nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts, could go on strike next week -- for the second time in the last year.
The nurses have been without a contract since the start of 2017. They walked off the job last June and had scheduled another strike for late February.
The union called that one off in order to go back to the bargaining table.
It appears, though, as if those talks were not fruitful, as the union has given notice it plans to strike on April 11.
Donna Stern, an RN at Baystate Franklin, said increasing staffing levels at the facility remains a key sticking point. And she had a message for hospital administrators.
"Until you do the right thing by our patients and by our community, we are going to stand as one and we are going to fight for what we believe we are called to do. which is safely take care of our patients," Stern said.
A Baystate Franklin spokeswoman said in a statement they have proposed a number of steps to address staffing, as well as wages and insurance coverage. They are calling for the union to allow its members to vote on the proposal in order to avoid what they call, "an unnecessary strike."
As with the June strike, the nurses are calling it a "one-day" action.
But it is likely they will be locked out for a few additional days. Replacement nurses brought in to keep the hospital up and running are usually guaranteed a minimum amount of work days.
