Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
The agreement between UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital and the nurses union is final after months of negotiations, the hospital's chief nursing executive said Sunday morning.
The hospital and SEIU healthcare have agreed to a two-year contract that illustrates the value Meriter places on its nurses, UnityPoint Health-Meriter spokesperson Nicole Aimone said in a statement.
"We are extremely pleased to reach a contract that we can all be proud of," UnityPoint Health Meriter chief nursing executive Sherry Casali said in the statement. "Nurses are critical to what we do each day, and we believe that this contract recognizes their skill, commitment and passion."
Meriter nurses voted to ratify the tentative agreement reached between Meriter and SEIU Healthcare Saturday after months of bargaining, Aimone said.
The contract includes competitive wage increases on top of what is already one of the highest paid nurse workforces in Wisconsin, she said. "Meriter believes that this contract will help them to retain their long-term nurses, as well as recruit new members to their team."
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Meriter will continue to offer "its established and generous benefits, including health and dental insurance, tuition assistance, support for childcare and a robust wellness program, which includes access to free mental health support and other wellness training," the statement said.
The SEIU Wisconsin strike, which began Tuesday, was set to end at 6:59 a.m. Sunday, but hospital officials announced a tentative agreement in a statement Saturday, and SEIU announced the wage increases and "historic" language the strike achieved in a press conference shortly after.
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"We have demonstrated that we will not back down when it comes to standing up for fairness, respect and what we deserve," said Amber Anderson, co-chair of the Meriter nurses bargaining team. "We fought for every penny they had to offer [and] won an 8% increase across the board over two years for every single nurse at Meriter."
While the nurses weren't able to secure an agreement on contractual language to address workplace safety, the strike secured "new language" providing the opportunity to work toward safety and security solutions, with Meriter committing to address key safety and security concerns, Anderson said.
Nurses were also concerned about patient-to-nurse ratios they said left them overworked and affected patient care. Anderson said the strike didn't achieve "ratios as we traditionally think about them" but secured language holding management accountable.
The language gives nurses a voice to collaborate on a unit-based staffing framework, which "offers a process" to achieve change, Anderson said. She added the nurses won a "commitment specific for Child Adolescent Psychiatry, the safety of our ER staff and patients, and language for a clear and concise tip sheet in emergent situations."
Final say on the agreement took a vote of union members, and with it, nurses were scheduled to return to work by 6:59 a.m. Sunday.
In calling the strike Tuesday, nurses complained of untenable working conditions, staffing issues and corporate greed in the system. Hundreds of union members marched from West Washington Avenue to the Capitol Friday, carrying signs and chanting amid supportive honks from passing drivers.
Health-care Meriter Hospital, nurses union reach tentative agreement Anna Hansen , Gavin Escott | Wisconsin State Journal
Nurses filed a federal complaint Thursday alleging unfair labor practices after the hospital said the nurses would lose their health insurance if they went on strike, according to a report by The Capital Times.
All striking nurses who didn't go into work Tuesday were considered "inactive employees" and were told they'd have to go through the process of re-enrolling in benefits.
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