The main goal for most of the over 600 registered nurses of Local 5004 in their contract negotiations was to win real staffing ratios. The nurses felt that they had given management every chance to improve staffing over the term of their last contract, yet staffing had only gotten worse.

Contract negotiations went down to the wire, with a strike date of June 3rd. However, when negotiations concluded, the nurses had won staffing ratios, as well as a ban on mandatory overtime, with the right to enforce both through the contract’s grievance procedure.

Under the new Englewood contract, the Medical Center agrees to staff each unit on the basis of staffing numbers set forth in the contract, and to never allow a unit to to be “short’ more than one nurse per work shift. The union will have the right to enforce the provision through the grievance/arbitration procedure of the contract, something that makes the staffing agreement a real, enforceable protection.

In addition to the staffing language, the nurses won major wage increases, a freeze on health insurance premiums, a guarantee that a new nurse will have a primary preceptor, and a ban on floating for nurses with a minimum of 10 year of service.

"We were able to win some real solutions because management knew we were unified and willing to fight for a change," stated Local 5004 President Stephanie Orrico after the new contract was ratified overwhelmingly." It was our unity and our union that made the difference."

Pascack Valley

Local 5004 members at Englewood Hospital were not the only HPAE members to win staffing ratios in their new contract. Under Local 5029’s new contract with Pascack Valley Hospital, staffing ratios will be established within the first year of the contract. If the ratios are not in place, or if they are violated, 5029’s members have the right of enforcement through the grievance/arbitration procedure. In addition, staff will receive a bonus for working any shift that is understaffed more than one-half of the time. The hospital also guarantees to provide a minimum of two licensed staff on the OB (post-partum), ICU and CCU departments.

In addition to the staffing protections, Pascack’s RNs will receive immediate increases of $3.00 per hour. Technical employees will get a minimum increase of 6.5%, however many will also receive additional salary upgrades worth up to 20%. All bargaining unit employees will receive additional wage increases of 2% on their anniversary date.

Shift, float and classification differentials are also increased in the new contract, while floating itself is prevented unless an employee is given “appropriate orientation.”

Cooper Hospital

In their negotiations this year, the registered nurses at Cooper Hospital faced an all too common issue: being taken for granted. Management wanted to put money into hiring bonuses and other gimmicks to attract new nurses at the expense of current staff. However, the Cooper nurses, armed with a strike vote and the will to carry out their threat, were able to "re-direct" their employer's contract proposals; winning major salary upgrades, and the right to establish staffing profiles and an acuity system.

Under their new 2 year contract, registered nurses will receive between 12% to 23% over the contract's term, with a majority of those increases immediately. I In addition, 4 new salary steps were added to the salary schedule for senior nurses; a just reward for senior Cooper RNs. A permanent preceptor position with a differential is also established under the new contract, as well as a weekend pool program containing hefty salary differentials.

The new contract also calls for an “Action Team" of nurses to develop staffing profiles, including criteria, as wellas an acuity system. The “Team” will then make recommendations to the full Staffing Committee within thirty days of the new contract's effective date. Since union members make up half of the positions on both the Team and Committee, a real, substantive plan for dealing with ongoing staffing problems at Cooper should result.

American Red Cross

For members of Local 5103, keeping the rights and benefits they’d already won was as big of an issue as winning salary and benefit increases in a new contract.

ARC management began negotiations by proposing a number of takebacks, including the end of the guarantee of an eight hour work shift and eliminating RNs from the ARC blood drives.

"We needed to fight for our job security in these negotiations, particularly for the RNs," stated Local 5103 member Linda Donnelly, RN. "We need RNs to maintain the safety of the blood supply, as well as the safety of our donors and our patients."

Fortunately, the Local 5103 members convinced management that they meant business; retaining existing benefits, while adding some important new ones.

Wages will increase by a minimum of 3% in each year of the new contracts, on-call and preceptor pay are increased, and weekend work maximums with premium pay are established; an important issue for everyone.

"We needed to achieve limits on weekend work requirements in the negotiations because we were exhausted," said Renee Brown, PDC Pheresis. "The issue was as important as any in these negotiations.”

For the 5103 members, their unity proved to be the difference between being forced to trade concessions for raises, and instead, making additional gains in their new agreement.