National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_NOV 12/10/10 1:28 AM Page 7 Caritas RNs Reach Landmark Master Agreement, Pension Benefit MASSACHUSETTS T he massachusetts Nurses Association and Caritas Christi Health Care, the state's secondlargest healthcare network, in October ratified a landmark master agreement covering nearly 1,700 registered nurses working at four Caritas facilities: Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Norwood Hospital in Norwood, and St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton. The centerpiece of the agreement is the creation of a Taft-Hartley, multiemployer defined-benefit pension fund for the nurses, the first of its kind for RNs in Massachusetts, which will provide lifetime retirement security for nurses at a time when other employers are cutting, freezing, or attempting to eliminate pension benefits.  "We are pleased that Caritas has made a concerted effort to recognize and reward the nurses at their facilities for the contributions they make now and into the future," said Julie Pinkham, RN, executive director of MNA. "The creation of a multiemployer defined-benefit pension fund has been a long standing goal of the MNA. I credit the senior leadership of Caritas who have the vision and leadership to address the pension issue for nurses, providing them an opportunity to retire with dignity after a career of caring for their patients, bucking the trend of many employers who are seeking concessions simply because they feel the climate will allow for it." The five-year agreement also includes a market-leading expansion of the nurses' paid time off benefits, a generous early retirement package, and a commitment by MNA and Caritas to form a strategic alliance to address issues of quality care, with the proviso that both parties will soon work out a "neutrality" agreement to allow other nurses working at non-union Caritas facilities the opportunity to organize a NOVEMBER 2010 union with the MNA if they so choose. As a result of the paid time off benefit, nurses will be awarded between two and five extra days off per year, depending on their years of service, and will be able to cash out up to 80 hours of paid time off per year. The parties also negotiated hospitalspecific contracts for each of the four MNA bargaining units, which address a number of nursing practice concerns that will improve patient care. In addition to the pension benefit, each of the facilities were able to negotiate wage increases, with ratification bonuses of 2 percent and across-the-board pay increases of 2 percent at all four hospitals, additional 2 percent increases per year at most of the hospitals, and a salary reopener for all four hospitals in 2014. In addition to the bonuses and across-the-board increases, the nurses will maintain their stepped salary scales, which award nurses an additional 3.5 - 5 percent annual raise for each year of clinical experience at their respective facility. The pension, dubbed the "The Nurses Pension Fund," will augment the hospital's existing 403b defined contribution plan, which Caritas had frozen last year, causing great concern for the nurses. As a Taft-Hartley pension fund, the new plan will be jointly administered by representatives of the MNA and the participating Caritas facilities. Caritas has agreed to establish the fund in 2012 by investing 4 percent of each nurses' annual earnings into the plan, and will raise that contribution to 5 percent per year beginning in 2013. Under the plan, when nurses retire they will be guaranteed a defined benefit, a set monthly payment for the rest of their lives. Nurses have no obligation to contribute to the defined benefit plan, but if they choose, they can participate in a 401k plan to further bolster their retirement savings. The creation of the new multiemployer plan is significant because now MNA and Caritas can work on expanding the plan to include other MNA local bargaining units 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 outside of the Caritas system to negotiate agreements with other employers to join the fund. "We are not only solidifying the retirements of the nurses at Caritas with this agreement," Pinkham explained, "but laying the groundwork for the development of a real pension benefit that we hope to make available to thousands of nurses across the state." Finally, the nurses were able to address a number of other nursing and patient care issues in their respective agreements, which improve the quality and safety of care patients receive. At St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, the nurses negotiated staffing language that creates a committee of nurses and management who will review and address staffing needs on all units in the hospital, while limiting the assignments of charge nurses, who are responsible for assuring the appropriate flow of patients through the system. The Carney Hospital nurses were also able to negotiate improvements in their staffing procedures, including protections for inappropriate "floating" of nurses, which is the practice of moving nurses between units to cover for staffing shortages. The Norwood Hospital nurses also formed a staffing committee to help ensure safe patient care, and have created a group to focus on preventing incidents of workplace violence at the hospital, a significant problem in healthcare today, as nurses are assaulted on the job as much as police of ficers and prison guards. "We have made history with this agreement," said Betsy Prescott, RN, chair of the MNA local bargaining unit at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center.  "We have achieved language that supports safer staffing levels on our units, and the creation of a multiemployer pension will not only provide retirement security of our nurses but will also open the door for other nurses throughout the state to eventually become part of this fund. The nurses at St. Elizabeth's are thrilled with this settlement." —David Schildmeier N AT I O N A L N U R S E 7

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