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MASSACHUSETTS NURSE NEWSLETTER ::
November/December 2006
RNs at Brigham & Women’s avert strike,
reach agreement
Talks had stalled over poor staffing,
union rights and wages
After a 14-hour negotiating session, the registered
nurses of the Brigham & Women’s Hospital reached a tentative
agreement with management on Nov. 20, averting a strike that was
set to begin on Nov. 29. The two-year pact includes a number of
provisions nurses sought to increase the recruitment and retention
of staff to ensure safe patient care, including landmark contract
language to protect newly licensed nurses and the union rights of
nurses. It also includes pay increases that will make the BWH nurses
among the highest paid nurses in the state.
“We are proud of this agreement as it is the result of our
membership’s willingness to take a stand for their patients
and their profession,” said Barbara Norton, RN, chair of the
nurses’ local bargaining unit. “The nurses spoke and
the hospital was forced to finally listen to us. As a result, nurses
are assured that they will continue to have the legal right to advocate
for their patients, our new nurses will not be forced to practice
beyond their level of experience, and this hospital will have a
pay scale to compete for the best nursing talent to provide the
excellent care the Brigham has long been known for. We hope management
continues to listen to its nurses and uses this agreement as a foundation
for much needed improvements in staffing, which was always the ultimate
goal of these negotiations.”
The two-year agreement runs from October 2006 to October 2008. The
pact includes the following key provisions:
- Protection of union rights: The nurses won contract language
that protects union rights for nurses at the facility and their
ability to advocate for patients. The language, the first of its
kind in New England, prevents the hospital from exploiting a recent
controversial ruling by the National Labor Relations Board, which
found that charge nurses (nurses who oversee the flow of patients
on a floor) or nurses who perform charge duties may be classified
as supervisors, and are thereby ineligible for union membership.
The new language clearly recognizes the union rights of all nurses
in the union.
- Protecting newly licensed nurses: The nurses won landmark restrictions
on the responsibilities of newly licensed and newly hired nurses,
requiring that nurses have at least 18 months experience before
being asked to take on additional responsibilities such as being
placed in charge of a patient unit, or to be asked to precept
another nurse.
- Industry-leading wages: The new contract includes across the
board pay increases of 3 percent per year for each year of the
contract, with a new 5 percent step at the top of the salary scale
in the first year of the contract while also increasing the starting
pay for nurses by 5 percent. As a result, at the end of the agreement
nurses’ pay will range from $29.31 per hour at the bottom
of the pay scale up to $60.98 an hour at the top, which will make
the nurses the highest paid nurses in the state.
- Protection of sick time benefits: The hospital removed a number
of proposals to restrict nurses’ sick time benefits.
- The 2,700 nurses of BWH, who are represented by the MNA, began
negotiations on July 13, with a total of 11 negotiating sessions
held before the agreement was reached. The settlement follows
an historic 95 percent vote by nurses on Nov. 13 to authorize
a strike, the largest nurses’ strike vote in the state’s
history.
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