Tired of watching an acrimonious labor-management dispute from the sidelines, a group of Berkshire Medical Center employees will jump in Monday, hoping their voices can make a difference.

The Berkshire Eagle reports a week before registered nurses with the Massachusetts Nurses Association set up pickets during a second strike against the Pittsfield hospital, employees who are not part of the contract talks will gather on one of the same streets.

Citing internal discord and financial risks to the institution, three longtime employees hope to rally co-workers with a call for labor peace. They anticipate blowback that could widen workplace divisions.

At 11:30 a.m. Monday, Tonya Burns of Savoy, a medical assistant in wound care and 17-year BMC employee will join fellow hospital employees Becky Armstrong and Scott Emerson on North Street near the Bishop Clapp Building.

Along with taking a group photo, participants will be invited to add their names to the nearly 100 signatures gathered on the one day the petition circulated last week.

Burns said the petition could bring repercussions, but she felt a need to act.

 

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