Jordan Hospital 
Jordan Hospital RNs ratified their new contract in September. Changes include:

• The wage scale increased 4 percent retroactive to Nov. 27, 2005. Effective May 28, 2006, every nurse moved up one step, retaining anniversary date, and a new 3.5 percent step was added to top of scale.
• Effective Nov. 26, 2006 the wage scale will be restructured and up to 3.5 percent will be added between all steps. Every nurse will also move up one step, retaining anniversary date, and a new 3.5 percent will be added to the top step.
• Effective May 27, 2007 the wage scale will increases by 2 percent.
• Effective Nov. 25, 2007, the wage scale will increase by 4 percent; and effective in May 2008, a new half-step will be added at the top of scale.
• Increases in the evening and weekend differentials were added, as was new language specific to a permanent night differential.
• Increases in on-call pay will reach $5 per hour by Feb. 17, 2008.
• Increases in tuition reimbursement for undergraduate and graduate courses were added.
• Entirely new language specific to a “senior retention bonus” is now included. Specifically, the senior retention bonus is for RNs who are over 50, who regularly work at least 20 hours per week and who have more than 20 years of continuous service.
• Nurses who regularly work longer shifts will now have the opportunity to request a shift reduction to 8.5 (8.0 on nights) hours on a holiday.
• Increases in the co-pays for office visits (from $10 to $15) and ER visits (from $50 to $75) for the lowest-cost health insurance.

VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson
The unionized MNA nurses at the VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson Inc. hosted their first-ever pool party and social event at the end of the summer.
Great fun was had by all!

Providence Hospital
Fall dates to begin negotiations were offered to management, and a meeting to evaluate and discuss the work of the violence task force was held in September.

West Springfield School Nurses
The nurses met several times throughout the summer and they continue to participate in mediation with the goal of attaining a fair and reasonable contract that includes professional pay parity.