Labor Department Bargaining Unit Updates

Following is a summary of the status of collective bargaining at MNA units, listed by Region.

Region 1 :: Region 2 :: Region 4 :: Region 5

Region 1

Mercy Medical Center
After 11 negotiation sessions and a successful informational picket line the bargaining unit’s negotiating committee has reached a tentative agreement with the Mercy Medical Center. There will be a ratification vote on the tentative agreement on May 2 in the Rose Garvey Room at the hospital. Members of the negotiating committee will present the details of the agreement and answer questions. The meetings will be held from 7:15–9:15 a.m., 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m., 3–4:15 p.m. and 6:30–7:45 p.m. At the same meetings the there will be a vote on proposed bylaw changes.

Providence Hospital
During the last negotiations, the MNA and management at Providence Hospital created a groundbreaking manual that addressed violence in the behavioral health care setting. Since that time, the majority of employees at Providence have either attended an in-service workshop focused on preventing violence in the workplace. Other members are also due to receive this info in their annual updates. The parties will meet to evaluate the manual in the spring. In the meantime, committee meetings have been well attended and preparations for negotiations are underway.

VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson
Two nurse members recently filed grievances after management insisted on assigning them duties that were contractually identified as managerial tasks. The grievance is in process and, as a sign of unity, the nurses are displaying placards in their cars that read, “I support Hospice Nurses of the VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson.”

Region 2

St. Vincent Hospital
The St. Vincent Hospital nurses, who are in negotiations for a new contract, have focused most of their activism and energy of late on a campaign to stop a number of dangerous practices introduced by their new for-profit owner, Vanguard Health Systems. Vanguard purchased the hospital from Tenet Health Care last year.
Vanguard—a company that is new to health care—is showing its inexperience with a number of decisions that have compromised the safety of patients. First, it closed a floor that had been used for ED overcrowding and laid of nurses. A month later, it doubled the size of the ED without adding any staff.
Vanguard has also:

• Implemented cost-cutting measures that compromise the quality of St. Vincent’s specialized RN teams (i.e., lactation nurses, pain nurses and overnight-coverage nurses in the OR).
• Spent considerable time “wooing” new doctors with promises of allowing them to perform more procedures (resulting in more income) without providing the appropriate training and equipment for the RNs.
• Instituted policies designed to speed up the delivery of care without the staffing and policies in place to ensure safety.
• Drastically cut the hospital’s IV team.

As part of its marketing program for the new emergency department, the hospital developed and began using the slogan: “It’s What’s Inside That Counts.” The RNs at Saint Vincent responded with their own campaign, wearing buttons that read “Ask a Nurse What’s Inside” while circulating related petitions to the hospital’s inside audiences.

Some positive signs of improvement are on the horizon, however. The hospital recently hired a new chief nursing officer who seems to understand the dangers associated with many of Vanguard’s decisions, and the nurses are hopeful that she is committed to working with the MNA committee.

Region 4

Anna Jacques Hospital
Nurses at Anna Jaques Hospital (AJH) in Newburyport are in the midst of intense negotiations over a new contract that the RNs hope will allow them to recruit and retain the staff needed to provide the quality and safety of care patients deserve.
With staffing levels cut to the bone and the elimination of the float pool to assist with staffing shortages, the quality of patient care at the facility is being jeopardized.

The nurses and management were successful in reaching a tentative agreement on issues related to floating but several key issues still remain unresolved, including:

Dangerous on-call policies that prevent nurses from being properly rested and, as a result, put patient safety in jeopardy. The bargaining unit wants guaranteed, paid rest periods for nurses working on call.

• The fact that the RNs at AJH have the lowest pay scale on the North Shore. The bargaining unit wants a competitive salary scale that will allow for the recruitment and retention if the staff needed to provide first-rate care.
• Management’s proposal of a two-tiered system that would preserve the pension for existing members, but eliminate it for all new hires.
• Management’s efforts to force all RNs onto an “earned time” program.

More than 100 AJH nurses—more than one half of the total bargaining unit—recently turned out for a union meeting and voted to authorize the committee to serve a ten-day informational picket notice if and when it becomes necessary. In addition, the nurses are circulating a petition of support among staff members and in the community.

Salem Hospital
The nurses at Salem Hospital are involved in trying to raise community awareness about the closing of the Pediatric Emergency Department on the night shift. While there will be no nursing positions lost, the RNs feel this is a issue of patient safety and quality care. The hospital said it was making this move to save money. As near as the nurses can tell the only savings is the light bill, as there is no staff reduction.

Region 5

Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Congratulations to the following nurses on their election to the MNA Committee: Michael Robinson (ED); Marian Wright (CWN 9); Michael Savoy (ED); Laurie Demeule (Cath lab); Teana Gilinson (12 ABC); Dianne Griffin (5A); Trish Powers (OR); and Susan Tartaglia (Care Coordination). They join current committee members Barbara Norton (NICU); Judy Lydon (CWN 8); George Rotondo (8C); Judith Racowsky (CWN 9); Kristin Robishaw (NICU); Mary Ann Dillon (3BC); Connie Gassett (Amb. GYN); Jean Cabral (12D); and Maureen Ward (L&D).
There was an overwhelming response to the proposal surveys that were mailed out, and the committee had meetings to work on their proposal package for the upcoming negotiations. The committee is continuing to deal with the challenges of unsafe staffing and nurse safety. Ongoing discussions and meetings concerning issues in the Cath Lab and OR continue. The open meeting, held at the MNA on March 15, was well attended. Issues that were raised and discussed included the lack of management support, unprofessional treatment by some managers and poor morale.

Caritas Norwood Hospital
The registered nurses at Norwood Hospital recently reached a tentative agreement with management on a two year contract. Ratification is scheduled for May 8.

New England Medical Center
Nurses from New England Medical Center (NEMC) and guests from other MNA bargaining units enjoyed a dinner and CE program in March. About 85 nurses attended the program on peer support for nurses with substance abuse issues. Carol Mallia, RN, associate director in the MNA’s nursing department, was the program presenter.

The event was co-sponsored by the NEMC nursing department and the MNA bargaining committee, and the goal of the event was to provide an educational opportunity that would lead to unity building in the bargaining unit—as well as some fun, social time. The program was a resounding success and the bargaining unit is looking forward to holding similar events in the future. The committee thanks Region 5 of the MNA for providing funding and support for this program.
In recent weeks, the MNA members at NEMC have been trying to deal with issues related to increased staffing needs/issues. There has been an escalating need for ICU beds coupled by a severe backup of patients in the ED and PACU. The hospital agreed to institute an overtime incentive giving nurses increased pay (double time in many instances) for working extra shifts. In addition, agency and traveling nurses have been brought in to help with the current situation.

The members at NEMC appreciate the incentive, but these efforts are primarily seen as “Band-Aid” solutions—they’re necessary and helpful, but they do not fix the underlying problems. As a result, frequent Labor/Management meetings are being held to address more permanent solutions.

St. Elizabeth's Hospital
The registered nurses at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center Hospital recently reached a tentative agreement with management on a two-and-a half year contract, which includes the following:

• The elimination of tenured steps.
• A 4 percent across-the-board (ATB) increase in year one of the contract; 4.5 percent ATB in year two; and a 3 percent ATB in the last five months.
• Successor protection language.
• Paid sleep time for on-call nurses, as well as for nurses who are called in for an overnight shift and who are scheduled for the following day.
• Health and safety language.
• Paid release time for labor/management meetings and negotiations.
• Longevity bonus for nurses with 20 or more years.
• Increased differentials.
• Significant improvements for per diem RNs.
• Tuition reimbursement improvements.
• Inclusion of the extra shifts bonuses into the body of the contract.