National Nurses United

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA I n january, District of Columbia Nurses Association (DCNA) and Children's National Hospital reached an agreement to provide registered nurses with reten- tion bonuses totaling $23,000, of which $15,000 was paid in February. Retention payments are prorated for part-time nurses. The agreement requires a commitment to remain employed through June 2025. Hospital management came to DCNA with a desire to retain nurses and address the staffing crisis through an offer of a reten- tion bonus. Through negotiations, DCNA secured the following improvements to the hospital's original proposal: an equal amount of reten- tion bonus payments for all nurses in the bargaining unit based only on full-time equivalent status, rather than care areas; decreased length of the retention contract from three years to two years and four months; agreement for fair repayment terms, including a promise to engage in good-faith discussions with an employee to consider extenuating circumstances; and elimination of repayment in the event of death, disability, and layoff. —Staff report MAINE M aine medical center (MMC) nurses in February successfully won back paid leave benefits after a two-month campaign that included delivering lumps of coal in December to hospital president Jeff Sanders after the hospital's announcement that it terminated nurses' paid leave for bereavement, jury duty, and military serv- ice. No other employees at MMC had lost these benefits to date and several MMC nurses reported that managers told them these benefits were ending because they unionized with Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC). "We are absolutely thrilled to have back our paid leave that we were always entitled to keeping, but that the hospital chose to take away from us," said Mary Kate O'Sulli- van, a medical-surgical RN. "We finally won it back without making any concessions. This is a clear testament to the power of the nurses when we act collectively." Several nurses who are on bereavement leave were told they would not be paid for their time away as they mourned the passing of their loved ones. The termination of these paid leave benefits had made it more difficult and costly for any nurse who sits on a jury or who is called away for military service. MMC management argued that these benefits ended because they are not specifically mentioned in the newly rati- fied union contract between nurses and the hospital. However, it is illegal for the hospital to make unilateral changes to current benefits, whether they are specifi- cally stated in the union contract or not, because nurses at Maine Med are already union members with MSNA/NNOC. At their press conference, nurses com- pared Maine Medical Center President Jeff Sanders to Ebenezer Scrooge from "A Christmas Carol." They were also joined by Santa Claus, who helped them deliver lumps of coal to Sanders. —Staff report Maine Medical Center RNs successfully fight termination of leave benefits Nurses deliver lumps of coal to hospital president J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 3 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 5 DC nurses win retention bonuses

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