Pittsfield, Mass.-based Berkshire Medical Center and the union representing nearly 800 of its nurses have had various conflicts over the past year.
Below is a timeline of events between BMC and the Massachusetts Nurses Association, including the most recent regarding an unfair labor practice charge.
September 2016: The two parties begin contract negotiations.
March 2017: BMC announces a federal mediator is being brought in after 19 failed negotiation sessions.
May 2017: BMC nurses petition Berkshire Medical Center for a "fair agreement" amid ongoing labor talks.
May 2017: BMC nurses overwhelmingly vote down the "best and final" contract offer from the hospital. Wages and staffing are among the key sticking points.
July 2017: BMC nurses accuse the hospital of using threats to prevent a strike. Specifically, the nurses allege in a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board that the hospital interfered with contract negotiations when it sent an internal letter to workers. The hospital denied the allegations.
July 2017: BMC nurses give their bargaining committee approval to call a strike if they so choose. The strike authorization came after nurses went on strike at Greenfield, Mass.-based Baystate Franklin Medical Center in June and approximately 1,200 nurses at Boston-based Tufts Medical Center went on strike in July.
August 2017: Staffing continues to be a key sticking point in negotiations, along with health insurance. At the time, the union said the hospital rejected nurses' revised staffing proposals from July. Arthur Milano, vice president of human resources at BMC's parent company, Pittsfield-based Berkshire Health Systems, tells The Berkshire Eagle the hospital believes it has made a satisfactory proposal to the union addressing nurses' staffing concerns.
August 2017: BMC nurses seek meetings with board members of Berkshire Health Systems amid their contract negotiations with BMC.
September 2017: BMC files an unfair labor practice charge against the MNA, accusing the union of "surface bargaining," as opposed to negotiating in good faith.
September 2017: BMC nurses set strike date of Oct. 3. "BMC nurses have been bargaining in good faith for a year, seeking to ensure that their patients are able to receive the safest and most effective nursing care possible. The hospital has refused to negotiate over concrete improvements to patient care and RN staffing. BMC management has also refused to provide information necessary for nurses to negotiate quality, affordable health insurance," the MNA says in a statement Sept. 22. David Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems and BMC, and Diane Kelly, RN, COO of BMC, say in a statement to Becker's Hospital Review they believe the MNA misrepresented BMC's handling of the negotiations and they are disappointed by the nurses' plan to strike.
September 2017: BMC files a legal request with a federal court to avert the planned Oct. 3 strike. The request is ultimately denied, and the strike begins as planned.
October 2017: BMC nurses plan rallies after the strike plan "for safe patient care and a fair contract."
October 2017: The MNA retracts a news release that incorrectly states BMC withdrew an unfair labor practice charge against nurses. In actuality, the MNA withdrew its unfair labor practice charge against the hospital regarding BMC's absentee policy.
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