GREENFIELD — City Councilor Doug Mayo started out his speech, “Some of you may only recognize me horizontally.”
Mayo, who is recovering from broken ribs after being struck by a vehicle last week, was one of several who spoke at a vigil for patient safety that Baystate Franklin nurses held Thursday evening at the Town Common.
Mayo told the crowd of a few dozen, with cars honking as they passed by, that it was thanks to the nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center that he has been able to recover from this accident, while noting how important it is for them to be at the hospital.
Roughly 200 unionized nurses at Baystate Franklin have a one-day strike scheduled to start at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
The hospital, however, has scheduled a three-day lockout to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, when it will bring in temporary nurses.
Mayo, alongside fellow City Councilor Sheila Gilmour spoke at Thursday’s vigil in support of the nurses in their almost 18-month-long labor dispute with the administration at Baystate over staffing and insurance concerns.
“You hear all of those cars out there? I don’t think they’re telling us to go home,” Gilmour told the collection of nurses, union supporters and residents.
“It’s beyond reasonable that we have to continue to battle for what’s reasonable and that’s what we will continue to do if they don’t come to the table,” Donna Stern, head of the local chapter of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said.
The nurses said there are no negotiations planned before the strike that could potentially avert it. In late February a planned strike by the nurses was called off when they agreed to bargain. The nurses said since then they have come closer to agreeing on health insurance plans, but that and the staffing issues remain their chief concerns.
Hospital officials were not available for comment for this story.