NORTH ADAMS - After 16 hours of negotiations, the Massachusetts Nurses Association and North Adams Regional Hospital came to a tentative contract agreement early this morning.
According to Paul Hopkins, NARH's director of community relations, details of the contract are not being released until it is ratified by the MNA membership - composed of 103 nurses at the hospital - and approved by NARH's board of trustees.
"NARH is very pleased that negotiations with the MNA were concluded early this morning in an atmosphere of respect and with a desire to come to agreement on outstanding issues," read a statement released by the hospital this morning.
The ratification vote will take place on Nov. 27.
Negotiations between the two sides had been ongoing since January, with the main subject of contention being a shift of the nurses' pension plans from a defined-benefit plan to a defined-contribution plan.
A defined-benefit pension plan commits an employer to paying a specific amount to an employee upon retirement, while a defined-contribution pension plan considers contributions, investment experience, and gains and losses for retirement benefits.
The decision to make the shift came following the passage of the federal Pension Protection Act of 2006, which would force NARH to contribute an additional $1.2 million to $1.4 million a year to fund the defined-benefit plan. The MNA contended that the hospital failed to provide its dedicated staff of nurses with their much-deserved benefits, instead proposing to strip them of guaranteed retirement earnings.
According to a statement released by the MNA this morning, the tentative contract addresses those pension woes.
"Among the important issues covered in the proposed contract are union security and retention of a defined-benefit pension plan," the statement read.
This morning's resolution comes following 10 months of unsuccessful negotiations that, at times, turned ugly. In June, the MNA called in a federal mediator to help facilitate compromise and last month, the registered nurses voted in favor of a strike authorization in an attempt to move toward a settlement.
On Tuesday, the two sides began talks at 10 a.m. and each side submitted about "four or five proposals and counter-proposals each," according to Charlie Rasmussen, a spokesman for the MNA.
"There's a lot of give and take that goes on," said Rasmussen on Wednesday. "We ended with a few outstanding issues on the table but the committee felt we had something we could bring back to the membership for ratification."
Neither Hopkins nor Rasmussen would say what middle ground was reached in developing a new three-year contract.
Past proposals included the possiblity of having the MNA opt into the pension plan of the Service Employees International Union, which covers the majority of hospital workers, including licensed practical nurses, and having the nurses contribute a larger share of their income toward deferring the cost of enrollment in a defined-benefit plan.
The MNA was "insulted" by the offer and said at the time that members were unwilling to sacrifice their wages or a fair retirement plan.
Though specifics of the contract are not available, NARH says the new contract addresses the concerns of the nurses while helping the hospital to remain fiscally responsible.
"[The contract] does achieve the critical goals of providing a fair and competitive compensation and benefit package for the nurses, and a transitional period to allow for the development of a new retirement benefit that addresses the hospital's financial concerns," the hospital's statement read.
For Rasmussen, nothing is settled until the vote on Nov. 27.
"In terms of whether we're satisfied or not, the important part for us is what happens at the ratification vote," he said. "No one is going to say it's over until a vote occurs. You can never tell what's going to happen with these things."
In a show of solidarity, approximately 65 of the 103 registered nurses made an appearance at open negotiations on Tuesday, contributing ideas and voicing opinions on the proposals on the table.
"Throughout the day, nurses were a part of it. They were encouraged to speak up and share their opinions. Our unit has a longstanding history of open negotiations and they're very proud of that process," said Rasmussen.
With still two weeks until the ratification vote, Rasmussen is looking forward to spreading the word to the rest of the membership.
"We’ll have some pretty interesting stuff we'll be sharing," he said.
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