Flushing Hospital nurses win improvements in staffing, working conditions
QUEENS, NYC Nov. 8, 2002 - Thursday evening, registered nurses at Flushing Hospital Medical Center approved a new 3½-year contract that the nurses believe will ensure safe staffing, improve working conditions, and help the facility remain competitive in the local RN job market.
The agreement was reached late in the evening on Nov. 4, after several months of contentious negotiations that saw the RNs conduct an extensive community outreach campaign and informational picketing.
Some highlights of the agreement include:
* Staffing - The contract provides for the establishment of safe RN-to-patient staffing guidelines that will be enforceable through arbitration. A labor/management committee of nurses to develop the guidelines will begin meeting within 30 days. The guidelines must be implemented within 60 days. The RN staffing committee will meet regularly to assess staffing levels.
* Compensation - Staff nurses will receive a retroactive salary increase of $2,300 for this year, and raises of $2,000 each year in 2003 and 2004, raising the base salary for staff nurses from its current $50,710 to $57,000 on Aug. 1, 2004. In addition, the hospital will restore one year of the nurses' experience pay. Many nurses had been frozen on the experience scale as a result of the hospital's 1999 bankruptcy.
* 12-Hour Shifts-This same committee will also consider converting more units from their current eight-hour schedule to a 12-hour schedule. NYSNA believes 12-hour shifts provide for better patient care coverage. Many RNs prefer a 12-hour schedule also because it allows them more time off to care for their families and further their education
*Retiree health benefits - Nurses retiring from Flushing Hospital with 20 years of service and are at least 62 years of age will receive $750 each year to purchase health insurance until they are eligible for Medicare.
* Other provisions - The contract also includes job security protection for more nurses, additional reimbursement for continuing their education, and retention of the nurses' union's health and pension plans at no cost to the nurses.
The contract runs from the expiration date of the previous agreement, Dec. 31, 2001, until June 30, 2005.
NYSNA is the professional association for registered nurses in New York with more than 34,000 members statewide. A multipurpose organization, NYSNA fosters high standards of nursing education and practice and works to advance the profession through legislative activity and collective bargaining. NYSNA is a constituent of the American Nurses Association (ANA) and its labor arm, the United American Nurses (UAN), which is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.
