Members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association at Newburyport, Mass.-based Beth Israel Lahey Anna Jaques Hospital have approved a new three-year contract.
The agreement, approved Feb. 26, followed more than six months of negotiations, according to the union. It will cover 350 registered nurses at the facility, which is part of Cambridge, Mass.-based Beth Israel Lahey Health.
Contract provisions highlighted by the MNA include:
- Wage increases ranging from 10.5% up to 65% in the first 12 months of the contract.
- A new program that compensates nurses who agree to work weekend shifts with an additional stipend for working at those times.
- Staffing improvements in the hospital's intensive care unit.
- Improvement to nurses' benefit package.
"This contract will further enable nurses to provide safe and personalized healthcare the way they know how to provide," Margaret Mirecki, RN, who works on the hospital’s telemetry unit and serves as co-chair of the nurses' MNA local bargaining unit, said in a union news release.
"We look forward to returning to a newfound sense of pride in our hospital and how we are valued and perceived. It wasn't an easy road to get there, but we are committed to improving patient care and, with this new contract, to retaining the talented nurses we have, while enticing others to join our team."
Sonya Vartabedian, Anna Jaques Hospital spokesperson, shared a statement with Becker's: "We are pleased to report that our nurses ratified the comprehensive three-year contract between the hospital and the Massachusetts Nurses Association. This balanced contract reflects the value that our nurses provide as part of our clinical care teams and supports their ability to continue to provide high-quality patient care to our community. The contract includes market-competitive wage increases, improved benefits and staffing commitments that support our shared goal for retention and recruitment."