Nashoba Valley Medical Center workers get pay increase

Health care workers at Nashoba Valley Medical Center, in Ayer, who voted to form a union with 1199SEIU in January 2015 will receive a pay increase and other benefit enhancements as part of a new union contract agreement reached with Steward Health Care.

The agreement on behalf of the 170 workers includes a three-percent wage increase, more predictability and stability with scheduling, improved overtime and vacation pay, and access to college tuition and training benefits through the 1199SEIU Training & Upgrading Fund, the union announced Wednesday. Members are expected to ratify the contract next week.

“We voted to form our union with 1199SEIU to achieve stability and security at work and this contract is helping to make those goals a reality,” Susan Boggs-Lightfoot, an administrative assistant who has worked at the hospital for 10 years, said in a statement. “We are glad that our commitment and dedication is being recognized by Steward through this agreement.”

The workers include medical assistants, receptionists, clerical staff, and facility technicians. Nashoba Valley workers will join workers from across the Steward system to renegotiate a system-wide contract and a series of hospital specific agreements next year.

Nashoba Valley Medical Center, a part of the Steward Health Care system, is a 73-bed facility serving North Central Massachusetts. It employs approximately 500 to 600 people.