CALAIS, Maine —Union nurses overwhelmingly approved a new, two-year contract Friday with Calais Regional Hospital that includes wage increases, safe staffing provisions and shift limits.
“Our No. 1 priority was patient safety and health, and [the] ability to recruit and retain qualified, valued employees, and this goes an incredibly long way toward that goal,” said Vanessa Sylvester, spokeswoman for Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses United. “We basically have guaranteed patient safety with no nurse having more than five medical/surgical patients at a time.”
Other contract highlights include:
- Increased core staffing in the emergency department.
- A 4 percent, across-the-board pay increase over the two-year contract plus step increases ranging from 2 to 4.5 percent.
- No mandatory overtime and improved control for nurses over their schedules and use of earned time.
Sylvester said the tone of the contract negotiations was positive and productive from start to finish during the three-month process.
“We started bargaining in September,” she said. “Everybody was very positive about the settlement, and the nurses voted in favor of approving it overwhelmingly.”
“This new agreement shows the dedication and insistence on safe staffing at Calais Regional Hospital. This agreement is an inspiration to all nurses working at hospitals across the state of Maine,” said Cokie Giles, MSNA president, in a press release issued Friday afternoon.
The nurses unions always say it is about safe patient staffing. Nxst time it will want a 4 to q ratio and so on until it is 1 to 1 because the goal of the union is to be able to collect more union dues and the more staff there is the better for them. They care nothing about the patients or the surviorbility of the hospital.
Congratulations to the Calais hospital and the nurses’ union. It sounds like the negotiations worked just about the way they’re supposed to. Both parties apparently approached the negotiations with an intention to reach an agreement, not just to impose their will on the other party.
I am so proud of Calais Regional Hospital and of the nurses there. With the help of some of the greatest nurses I ever knew, I helped to organize the nurses union there in the early 80s. Things are so different there now. The union AND the Hospital continue to work together on improving the quality and safety of care at CRH. Last spring, I went there to do a presentation during their Patient Safety Week. Their obvious dedication to patients and patient safety is inspiring. Congratulations to the nurses and to CRH for an excellent contract agreement and for your dedication to patients and their safety.