BANGOR, Maine — Members of Eastern Maine Medical Center’s board of trustees on Wednesday approved a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the union representing the roughly 850 staff nurses who work there.
The contract provides nurses pay raises of 3 percent this year and 2 percent for each of the following two years as well as health benefit security language, hospital officials and nurses said in separate interviews last month.
The board’s unanimous vote to that end was the final step in a sometimes contentious negotiating process that began in March and included, among other things, assistance from a federal mediator and an informational picket outside the hospital.
The contract offer was accepted by 56 percent of the union members, according to a post on the Maine State Nurses Association’s Facebook page and on the union’s Twitter account.
EMMC nurses voted to approve the new contract on May 29.
The three-year agreement, which was the hospital’s “last, best, final offer” went before the trustees with the bargaining team’s recommendation for approval.
“This agreement is a result of compromise from both sides,” Greg Howat, vice president of human resources and EMMC’s chief negotiator, said late last month in a notice posted on the hospital’s website.
“With the help of a federal mediator, we’re pleased to reach an agreement that is in the best interest of our patients, employees and the communities we serve,” he said. “With a three-year contract in hand, we look forward to focusing our collective attention on innovations and improvements that continue to ensure our patients and their families receive the highest quality, compassionate care they’ve come to know and expect from EMMC.”
I think that is great but it’s really too bad that the other people that are non-proffessional employees do not have a union and do not get treated the same way. What would they do if the people in the kitchen, the laundry people, the maintenance people, ect didn’t show up for work. How would they run the hospital without these people who are making a crappy wage but trying to make a living. It just isn’t fair in my book. I can honestly say there are some nurses there that shouldn’t be there!!
If people want to be a part of a union, then people need to organize themselves and approach a union and get the process started. Its not that dificult. I have worked in Unionized and non unionized enviroments – I take a unionized enviroment any day – just far more benefits, better pay and somone higher up cannot just come in and take your job away.
What isn’t fair is blaming the people who have the intestinal fortitude to organize and stick up for themselves for the unfair treatment of those who choose not to.
Of course there are some nurses who shouldn’t be there, just like there are employees in every profession who shouldn’t be there. There are nurses who are weeded out from their departments, you just aren’t going to be reading about it in the newspaper. It’s a process. Most of the nurses work hard and do their best for their patients. They work 12 hour shifts, many times short staffed, and care for patients that other area hospitals send to them due to their level of health care needs. It is too bad that the “non-professional” employees are not given the same raises, for sure. However, that has nothing to do with the role of the nurse and they have no control of that. Nurses are highly trained professionals who have a very demanding job to do. They deserve every dime they make and then some.
There’s lots of information available about unions, the history of the labor movement, and how to unionize your workplace so that you do get treated fairly. Kitchen, laundry, and maintenance workers have union protections at many hospitals, hotels, etc., and there’s no reason why you can’t have them, too. Just google ‘how to unionize.’
Higher pay step based on experience? If all is fair why are other professional people working at EMMC not not entitled to this? Because we are not nurses and therefore not special!!!!
The step increase was not part of the final agreement. It was a union proposal during the negotiations, but not included in the contract. The paper’s report was inaccurate.
Hey…. I thought it was all about “patient safety”!!!!??? What about that? Or was that just some sort of smokescreen??
Typically when union/management negotiation of a contract is made public the total of all issues negotiated are not made public. Mr. Greg Howat, vice president of human resources and EMMC’s and chief negotiator says “we’re pleased to reach an agreement that is in the best interest of our PATIENTS, employees and the communities we serve.” Notice the word “patients.” There’s your “patient safety.”
uh huh …. sure.
They had no problem talking about the money in public.
What really upsets me is that their raises are NOT merit based. They get a 3-7% raise (depending on their years of service) even if thier work is below par. Why would someone try to improve if they are going to obtain a raise regardless of their quality of work? I however, have just received a raise for the first time in 3 years because the wages are no longer frozen. I received a perfect evaluation so I obtained the maximum 3%. There is no guarentee for me that wages will not be frozen again as they will need that money to pay the RN’s their mandatory raises.
Unless there is something left out of the article, management obviously didn’t think “merit” based raises was a priority. It always make me sad when “management” doesn’t provide themselves with the tools needed to manage and then blames the union.