St. Vincent’s Nurses Ratify Three Year Contract to Improve Staffing Levels

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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

GoLocal Worcester News Team

On Monday, the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) and National Nurses United (NNU) announced that registered nurses at St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester voted to ratify a new three-year contract. The new contract includes improvements to nurse staffing levels, a reduction in the cost of health benefirts for part-time nurses, and a small pay hike for every nurse.

Marlena Pellegrino, RN, co-chair of the nurses’ local bargaining unit, said "This is a great victory for nurses and this community as we were able to reach an agreement that will allow St. Vincent nurses to continue to provide high quality care to our patients and to maintain the highest standards of professional nursing practice. This is a win for all parties, and the biggest winners will be our patients.”

The three year agreement will run from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016. Over 700 nurses at St. Vincent Hospital, who are represented by the MNA, began contract negotiations in November of 2013. After more than 20 negotiations, a settlement was reached on February 3 and the membership ratified the agreement on February 18, 2015.

According to the MNA and NNU, hospitals across Massachusetts are making dramatic cuts to RN staffing levels and increases to nurses' patient assignments to boost profits at the expense of patient safety, including UMass Memorial Medical Center. St. Vincent's will increase the number of RNs for each shift in the hospital's ER, more staff on the maternity and pulmonary care units, and improvements in staffing in other inpatient areas to allow nurses more time with patients.