The Montana Nurses Association has recommended that its members at Billings (Mont.) Clinic do not approve the current contract offer, according to a report in the Billings Gazette.
Billings Clinic's 575 nurses who are represented by the Montana Nurses Association, are set to vote on the contract Tuesday and Wednesday.
Negotiations on the current contract offer spanned four months, and the contract has several points of contention, according to the report. They include: elimination of merit pay, tiered pay scales for nurses with bachelor's degrees versus associate degrees and the elimination of an extended leave program.
Despite the union's failure to recommend the contract — an "unusual" occurrence, according to a Montana Nurses Association representative — hospital officials are hopeful the contract will be ratified.
"We have an excellent offer on the table with an economic package that includes benefits and pay raises that keep our nurses ahead of the market," Julie Burton, Billing's Clinic's director of communications, told the Billings Gazette. "We hope our proposal will be judged on its merits and that our nurses will vote to ratify the offer."
However, if the nurses do reject the offer, the union would like resume negotiations.