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April 17, 2008

Update: Tentative pact averts nurses' strike at Butler

PROVIDENCE -- A threatened nurses’ strike at Butler Hospital has been averted, now that a tentative three-year deal has been reached.

Union members had voted overwhelmingly earlier in the week to go on strike today if their contract demands were not met.

But they reached an agreement with management this morning that will keep them on the job.

"It addresses many of our concerns," said Stan Israel, executive vice president of the New England union.

The primary concern, Israel said, was the use of "travel nurses," which are essentially temporary people brought in to work a vacation shift or when a hospital is shorthanded.

The union argued that the private psychiatric and substance abuse hospital was using the travel nurses instead of hiring full-time employees. Hospital management says the use of travel nurses is rare but necessary.

The tentative agreement includes pay raises, but Israel refused to say what they were.

The agreement also moves forard on health benefits, he said, but did not specify how so.

-- With reports from The Associated Press and Journal staff writer Paul Grimaldi

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:45 PM | Permalink

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