NEW YORK NURSE: July/August 2010
A new three-year contract for the 520 RNs at this Rockland County facility maintains comparable health insurance as the hospital changes health insurance providers. This had been a key point of contention. The contract will help make the hospital more competitive in recruitment and retention by increasing wages by 9.1 percent over three years, and improving funding for staff development and tuition reimbursement. Approved on July 29, The contract is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010, and runs through 2013.
RNs at this North Country facility reached agreement for a new contract on July 27, just four days before their current contract expired. The new contract includes a 12.5 percent increase in nightshift differential, which will help remedy a 34 percent nightshift RN vacancy rate. Obstetric RNs also will now receive hourly specialty differential pay, compensation that was previously offered to only critical care and emergency department RNs. A mentoring program will be developed to offer workshops and in-service training to new hires.
After 18 months of negotiations, the almost 2,600 RNs of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx ratified a two-year contract on June 24. The contract runs from Jan. 16, 2009, through Dec. 31, 2010. Active and retiree health benefits have been preserved. A salary increase of 2 percent on the base rate, retroactive to August 2009 was achieved. After ratification, there is an additional 3 percent pay increase. A special committee has been appointed to address staffing issues at the Weiler campus.
After a long struggle, the 532 nurses of the Brooklyn Hospital Center ratified an 18-month contract on June 9. The nurses will receive a 3.3 percent pay increase and a lump-sum bonus of $300 at ratification. The contract also provides for a case-load cap for home care RNs. The nurses succeeded in preventing management from incorporating a “pay for performance” system into this contract. The contract runs retroactively from July 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010.