UMass Memorial Nurses' Group Ratifies Contract
Nurses at the Memorial and Hahnemann campuses of UMass Memorial Medical Center have ratified the three-year contract they reached with the hospital system last month after 18 months of negotiations, their union said today.
"We are pleased that our membership has ratified this important contract, as it includes safer staffing levels with limits on nurses' patient assignments that will ensure our patients receive better care," said Lynne Starbard, a registered nurse and co-chair of the local bargaining unit of the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United.
The 1,100 nurses represented by the MNA at UMass Memorial's University campus reached an agreement with the hospital nearly a week after the other group but has yet to ratify that agreement.
More than 900 nurses are covered by the Memorial/Hahnemann contract, according to the MNA. A major point of contention during negotiations, which led to nurses planning a one-day strike that was averted by the agreement, was higher staffing levels and smaller patient loads the MNA said would be safer for patient care. The contract addressed those concerns and includes:
- Limits on nurses' patient assignments for those working on the medical surgical units, including no more than five patients during daytime shifts, an average of five patients on evenings and a mix of five and six patient assignments for nurses on nights;
- Limits on assignments for "charge nurses," who guide the flow of patients on each floor and assist other nurses with more complex patient situations;
- Improved RN-to-patient ratios in the hospital's maternity and neonatal intensive care units, as well as new staff in the emergency department to assist with more critically ill patients;
- The hiring of "a significant number" of nurses, with the positions being phased in over a six-month period following ratification; and
- Across-the-board salary increase retroactive to Jan. 1, 2012 of 1 percent, a 1.5-percent increase effective Jan. 1, 2013 and a 2-percent increase on Jan. 1, 2014.
"We are very proud of this agreement, and we salute the nurses who fought so long and hard to make it possible," said Colleen Wolfe, a registered nurse and co-chair of the bargaining unit.
UMass Memorial did not respond to a request for comment this morning. However, a statement on the hospital system's website says the agreement with the MNA "meets the objectives of the medical center and is also in the best interests of our nurses, and most importantly, the patients and the families in the communities we are proud to serve."
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