Members of the New York State Nurses Association and Northwell Health's Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, N.Y., reached a tentative labor contract on Feb. 15.
The union and hospital reached the agreement days after the union announced plans to strike at Peconic and Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Valley Stream (N.Y.) beginning Feb. 21 unless tentative contracts could be reached beforehand. Union members have not reached a tentative agreement with Long Island Jewish Valley Stream.
At Peconic, the tentative contract includes staffing improvements, stronger and expedited safe staffing enforcement, protection of union members' health and pension benefits, and significant pay increases, according to the NYSNA. The union plans to release additional details about the agreement pending a Feb. 20 ratification vote.
Chris Honor, BSN, RN, local president at Peconic Bay and NYSNA Southeastern regional director, said in a Feb. 16 news release: "Our NYSNA negotiating committee worked hard on this tentative agreement and are proud of the safe staffing improvements and the fact that it will take us from some of the lowest paid healthcare workers on Long Island to being competitive with other hospitals."
A spokesperson for Northwell shared the following statement with Becker's: "Peconic Bay Medical Center is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with NYSNA. From the start of negotiations, our sole focus remained ensuring that our patients continue to receive world-class care and our dedicated nurses and allied health professionals can continue to serve in the best environment to provide that care. The agreement provides competitive compensation and benefits and reaffirms our commitment to our team members and delivering safe, high-quality care."
The NYSNA represents about 700 nurses and healthcare professionals at the Northwell facilities, according to a Feb. 9 NYSNA news release. Northwell, based in New Hyde Park, N.Y., has more than 85,000 employees total.