Staffing, Successor Language & Securing Their Pension Are the Issues.
Massachusetts Nurses Association, August 23, 2011

The Registered Nurses at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton are taking their contract fight to the streets with an informational picket scheduled for August 24. The yearlong contract negotiations have come down to three very important issues, staffing, successor language and  protection of their defined benefit pension.

In  response to an increase in patient assignments, nurses are calling for nurse staffing language to ensure that patients receive the care they need when they need it and to protect their licenses. With active discussions underway with potential buyers for the hospital, the RNs need to have successor language to protect their union rights and contract no matter who takes over. And lastly, the nurses are fighting to secure their pension. Recently the hospital tried to end their defined benefit pension and now they want to stop offering it to new  nurses.

Please join the Cooley Dickinson nurses and their supporters as they fight for a fair contract.