This story by Nora Doyle-Burr first appeared in the Valley News on Nov. 4.
SPRINGFIELD — The union representing nurses at Springfield Hospital has come to an agreement on a first contract with the hospital, according to a Thursday news release from the union, Springfield United Nurses and Allied Professional Nurses Union Local 5122.
“The union achieved its main goal of the establishment of a new equitable wage scale that finally recognized the long and faithful service nurses have given to the hospital, especially throughout the COVID pandemic,” Alicia Reed, president of the Springfield Registered Nurses Union, said in the release.
The nurses voted, 35-25, on Dec. 23, 2021, to join the United Nurses and Allied Professionals, a regional health care union representing approximately 7,000 nurses, technologists, therapists, support staff and other health care workers in Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut. They ratified the new contract on Wednesday.
In addition to the wage scale — which the hospital had not previously had — the new three-year contract also includes wage increases each year, as well as “catch up” step movement on the new wage scale for registered nurses who were paid less than their overall years as a registered nurse, including credited time spent as a licensed practical nurse. There are a total of 70 registered nurses who work at the hospital and the related Windham Center for Psychiatric Care in Bellows Falls, Vt., Greg Kotecki, a field representative with UNAP, said in a phone interview.
The contract, which will run through September 2025, includes language recognizing the hospital’s obligation to honor a staffing grid it submits to the state; safety and health provisions; and improvements to critical need and other specialty pay.
Kotecki noted that the agreement includes a premium per diem position aimed at reducing the hospital’s reliance on traveling nurses. By committing to a certain number of hours, Kotecki said the premium per diem workers can make between $65 and $85 an hour, which he said is significantly less than the $125-$160 an hour that the hospital might have to pay an agency for traveling nurses.
The contract requires the creation of a labor management committee to address issues such as staffing guidelines, nursing practice, recruitment and retention initiatives.
“The contract incorporates many of the existing practices and provides general wage increases, similar to what we have provided to other employees,” Anna M. Smith, hospital spokeswoman, said in an email Friday. “The hospital works hard to provide attractive salaries and benefits for all of its employees, including its nurses, in an effort to recruit and retain the best possible workforce to serve our community.”
The six-month time frame for the contract’s approval is unusual, Kotecki said. Typically a first contract can take 18 months, he said. UNAP also represents nurses at Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Vt., and at the Brattleboro (Vt.) Retreat.
The Springfield nurses sought to balance their own needs for increased wages and benefits with their understanding that Springfield Hospital had emerged from bankruptcy in late 2020, Kotecki said.
The union is “not in the business of putting employers out of business,” Kotecki said. “I think that we struck a really good balance. We’re happy.”
