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July 5, 2007

R.I. Hospital, nurses' union agree on 4-year pact

Rhode Island Hospital and the union representing its nurses and technologists have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract, the union announced today.

Under the agreement between the hospital and United Nurses and Allied Professionals Local 5098, pay increases will range from 16.5 percent to 33 percent over four years, according to the union.

By the end of the contract, top pay rates will be $48.74 per hour for registered nurses, $39.14 per hour for respiratory therapists and $45.14 per hour for radiologic technologists.

The union's approximately 2,200 members are scheduled to vote on the contract July 17. If it's approved, the contract will replace the current contract, which isn't due to expire until June of next year.

Linda McDonald, president of the union, said in a statement that the new contract provides "important economic security to our members during what is likely to be a time of economic insecurity in health care over the next four years."

In an interview, she added, "We really hope this will make recruitment and retention easier for Rhode Island Hospital."

The agreement was reached on Monday after nine bargaining sessions.

Posted by Jack Perry at 1:00 PM | Permalink

Comments

I say fire them all and replace them. I am sure the Hospital could find qualified nurses if they really wanted to. No wonder these hospitals can't stay in business. The UNIONS have driven out manufacturing and now they plan on contributing to the closing of hospitals.

Erik | July 5, 2007 2:52 PM link

Erik, if you knew how hard these nurses worked, you would be surprised they are receiving so little. RI Hospital nurses are among the LOWEST paid in the state, getting even less than local community hospitals in some cases. Patient workload is unbelievable! Quite frankly, it is lucky that patients have not died because of the overload. They cannot hire nurses for the intensive care units because of the low pay, so the nurses on staff are ALWAYS being paged to pick up more hours.
My wife deserves every penny of the money she gets.

Richard | July 6, 2007 9:07 AM link

"RI Hospital nurses are among the LOWEST paid in the state, getting even less than local community hospitals in some cases."

Here's an idea... Quit. Or get a job at another hospital.

I got a 4% raise this year and I was glad to get it. I can only imagine getting a 33% raise over three years for doing the same job.

Greg | July 6, 2007 12:11 PM link

July 5, 2007

R.I. Hospital, nurses' union agree on 4-year pact

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