Berkshire Money Management Celebration for BMC Nurses

Berkshire Money Management Hosted Celebration for BMC Nurses

After a long series of strikes, negotiations, BMC nurses celebrate agreement signing

After nearly two years of strikes and negotiations, the some 800 registered nurses of Berkshire Medical Center will celebrate the signing of a tentative agreement that promises to alleviate a staffing shortage that has long been a concern to nurses. A celebration BBQ for the nurses was held on Sunday, July 8 at Berkshire Money Management’s (BMM) headquarters at 161 Main Street — the Model Farm — in Dalton.

“These negotiations weren’t about unions. And if you ask the nurses themselves, it wasn’t even about the nurses,” says BMM founder and CEO Allen Harris. “This was about safe patient limits.  And it was the nurses who were fighting for you and for me, for us as patients. A celebration isn’t enough to thank them, but it’s a start.”

Berkshire Money Management has long been a supporter of local nurses and medical staff, providing scholarships and licensing funding to area nursing students, meals and support to strikers, and specialized financial guidance to current and retired employees of Berkshire Health Systems, one of the county’s largest employers. After the tentative agreement was signed on June 15, the Massachusetts Nurses Association and BMC nurses asked Berkshire Money Management about hosting a much-needed celebration.

“Many of us at BMM have had need of medical services—major surgeries, outpatient care, physical therapy, unforeseen emergencies,” says Harris. “We are forever in the debt of our caregivers for looking out for us, time and again. When they approached us about doing this, we were obviously honored. ”