NEW YORK NURSE: April 2008
by Mark Genovese
For the first time, a contract was negotiated jointly by RNs from the four sites of New York Dialysis Services. Such joint negotiations gave the nurses more leverage and increased their bargaining power. The five-year master agreement, ratified on Feb. 29, will apply an annual 3% raise to base salaries plus experience differentials. This will result in a compounded total increase of 15.93% over the life of the contract. The way shift differentials are calculated and applied will be changed, which will also result in higher increases. NYSNA pension and health benefits will continue to be paid in full by the employer. The contract also increases staffing on all shifts.
A new contract, ratified Feb. 14, will give the 230 RNs at this Jamaica facility a total base salary increase of 14.6% over four years. To help retain nurses, experience differential steps will increase significantly and staffing guidelines will be stricter. To help recruit nurses, the cap on outside experience will be removed. Incumbents hired with more than 10 years of outside experience will be credited with an additional three years of Mary Immaculate experience at new higher rates. In addition, the annual stipend for retirement health insurance was doubled to $5,000. The contract will expire on Jan. 31, 2011.