UMass Memorial union nurses secure raises of up to 19.5%

Photo | Timothy Doyle UMass Memorial Medical Center's University campus, which is one of the hospitals in the UMass Memorial Health system.

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By Kevin Koczwara

The Massachusetts Nurses Association union has ratified new contracts with wage increases and workplace improvements for 2,770 of its nurses at four of Worcester-based UMass Memorial Health's facilities in the past four months.

The new contract includes increases in wages for nurses ranging from 8% to 19.5%, depending on the facility and the length of a contract, according to the MNA announcement on Thursday.

“Our UMass nurses and healthcare professionals have been the backbone of the Worcester-area hospitals since the pandemic started in early 2019. But these same professionals have also been overburdened and have often burned out,” MNA President Katie Murphy said in a written statement. “Too many patients, too few resources, and insufficient compensation have forced them to leave the bedside. But with overdue improvements like those seen in these UMass contracts, we expect that nurses will return to and stay at the bedside — which is exactly what our local communities need.”

Nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center’s Memorial campus in Worcester ratified a three-year contract on June 29; Marlborough Hospital ratified a two-year contract on July 28; the Clinton campus of Leominster-based UMass Memorial HealthAlliance - Clinton Hospital ratified a two-year contract on Sept. 7; UMass Memorial Medical Center’s University campus ratified a three-year contract on Sept. 29.

“Every day, we are moved by the compassion, resilience, and professionalism of our nursing staff, who continue to deliver exceptional care to all our patients and their loved ones. We are delighted to have these newly ratified contracts in place, which will strengthen critical recruitment and retention efforts for our system and support our talented clinical teams to improve patient outcomes,” Chief Nursing Officer Justin Precourt said in a statement. “Given the pervasive economic challenges of the healthcare industry, we are grateful to our nurses for engaging in amicable negotiations throughout this process. We look forward to continuing to partner with them in building a work environment that values our nurses’ contributions, wellbeing, and growth.”

UMass Memorial’s University and Memorial campuses have struggled to recruit and keep nurses over the past few years, according to the MNA, and the union believes the new contracts with the raise in wages and other benefits will allow the hospitals to retain and bring in new talent to help with staffing.

Other highlights of the new contracts include increased wages not only for full-time nurses but also per-diem nurses at the Memorial campus. The Memorial campus’ contact includes updated language to include gender-inclusive pronouns, making it the second facility to do so. Marlborough’s contract includes raises as well as enhancements to the grievance process and the hospital’s workplace violence prevention protocols. Both the University and the Marlborough contracts include changes to how nurses who work over the weekend are treated, by counting 24 hours worked over a weekend as if it were worked 30 hours.

The announcement of the four contracts comes on the heels of the 301-day nurses’ strike at Saint Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester from 2021-2022. The MNA and UMass came to agreements on new contracts without a strike.