NEW YORK NURSE: September 2010
by Mark Genovese
Under their new three-year contract, professional staff at this Dunkirk facility will receive two times their regular rate of pay if they are required to, or, in many cases, volunteer to work overtime. The contract will provide wage increases of 2.75 percent each year for staff who are on steps 1 to 4 and 3.25 percent for staff who are on steps 5 to 10. Full- and part-time staff can retain their salary rate if they shift to per-diem status, and per diems will receive 1.5 times their pay if they work holidays. The contract expires June 30, 2013.
In their first new contract since the Springville facilities came out of bankruptcy in 2009, RNs will receive a 3.25 percent wage increase under this one-year agreement. The contract includes provisions for low-census days, a differential for working weekend shifts beyond their obligation, and gives RNs more flexibility in using holiday time if they work on the actual holiday. A program will be established to educate RNs about safe patient handling.
The more than 800 registered nurses of Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center ratified a three-year contract on July 19. The contract is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010 and runs through Dec. 31, 2012. The nurses received base rate and per diem rate increases of 2 percent per year, and increased experience differential, charge and preceptor pay. The nurses also received staffing improvements, increased employment security and expanded use of self-scheduling and flex schedules.
A new three-year contract for the 85 RNs of the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation Long Term Home Health Care and Hospice Programs includes funding for retirees to purchase health coverage. Ratified July 17, the contract increased base salaries 2.5 percent upon ratification, with additional increases of 2.5 percent in September 2011 and 3 percent in November 2012. Retroactive to March 10, 2010 and running through March 9, 2013, the contract says that RNs will not face reprisal for reporting workplace violence.