Nurses at Massachusetts hospital take pay cut for 'safer' staffing levels

After months of battling with hospital management, the registered nurses of Quincy Medical Center have ratified a new union contract that includes a 3 percent wage cut in hopes of getting what they consider to be safer staffing conditions.

The nurses reached a tentative agreement on the new pact on Sept. 10, a few weeks after placing a full-page ad in local newspapers seeking the public's support, according to a statement by the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

The new contract calls for the hospital to adhere to specific staffing guidelines for each area of the hospital on a daily basis, and it limits assignments for resource nurses who manage the flow of care and ensure the efficient movement of patients throughout the system, the MNA said.

"We are cautiously optimistic that with this new contract the hospital will honor its previous commitments regarding nurses' patient assignments," said Paula Ryan, chairwoman of the nurses' local bargaining unit. "However, given the hospital's handling of these negotiations, their treatment of nurses over the last several months and their past refusal to staff appropriately, we intend to watch this situation closely and will continue to inform the public of our concerns for patient safety, as patients have the most to lose if the hospital fails to uphold this agreement."

According to Ryan, the nurses agreed to accept the hospital's wage cut, along with a freeze to their pension and other benefit concessions, in exchange for a guarantee that those changes would sunset and wages and benefits would be restored at a specific time. The wage cut will sunset on March 31, 2011, and the pension freeze will be lifted as of Dec. 31, 2010.

"As always, the nurses have agreed to make sacrifices for the good of the hospital," Ryan said. "All we are looking for is to be treated with respect and for conditions that allow us to provide quality patient care."

Negotiations for a new contract began on Feb. 18, with six sessions held before management "abruptly ended negotiations, declared impasse and implemented their last offer" on April 4, 2010, Ryan said. The nurses immediately filed an unfair labor practice charge against the hospital, and hundreds of nurses picketed the facility on April 1. 

When the local National Labor Relations Board failed to uphold the MNA's charge, the union appealed the decision to the NLRB in Washington, D.C., but has agreed to withdraw the appeal following ratification of the contract. The newly ratified agreement will expire on Jan. 31, 2011, according to Ryan.

"Quincy Medical Center administration and its nursing staff are deeply committed, first and foremost, to the health and safety of our patients," said Sandra McGunigle, interim director of public relations and marketing at Quincy Medical Center

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement that was responsive to both sides," she said. "While the negotiation process was lengthy, we feel that the outcome is in the best interest of all concerned -- our nurses, the hospital and our patients."