Members of the Michigan Nurses Association have ratified a new labor contract with Aspirus Ironwood Hospital.
Nurses approved the agreement Jan. 14, according to a news release from the union.
The contract maintains a wage structure that rewards experience and guarantees annual across-the-board raises, the MNA said. It also includes higher pay for on-call and night shifts, caps on health insurance costs, and stronger language requiring employer disclosure of workplace violence incidents.
“Our goal was always to get a contract that supports Ironwood nurses so we can recruit and retain the skilled nurses our community needs,” Sarah Trudgeon, RN, president of the local MNA union at the hospital, said in the release. “A strong nurses’ contract is a big part of protecting access to healthcare that we currently have in our area.”
Aspirus Health, based in Wausau, Wis., said the agreement supports both nurses and the broader goals of the health system.
“We are pleased that our nurse colleagues at Aspirus Ironwood have voted to ratify a new agreement, which includes both meaningful economic proposals, as well as important system-wide alignment on key components of compensation such as call pay, shift differential and charge pay,” the health system said in a statement shared with Becker’s. “This system alignment of premiums results in increased compensation for our nurses and allows Ironwood to remain competitive in the market for recruitment and retention purposes. We are eager to move forward and further our commitment to our patients, people and communities.”
The new contract is effective immediately and runs through July 19, 2028.
