THREE RIVERS, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Registered nurses at Three Rivers Health-Beacon Health System have ratified a new contract designed to help recruit and retain nurses.
According to a news release dated Monday, June 17, the nurses, members of the Michigan Nurses Association, voted Friday, June 25, to approve the tentative agreement reached between them and the hospital.
Emergency department nurse and local union president Brandy Shoup said, “We’re pleased to have achieved a strong contract that will make our hospital a better, safer place and support us in providing the best care possible. Through our solidarity and community support, we made it clear that Beacon Health must invest in Three Rivers. Now we can attract more nurses to work at the hospital and ensure more nurses continue working in our community.”
The new 3-year contract includes wage increases of an average 12 percent the first year and three percent each of the next two years, higher shift differentials for afternoons and nights, phaseout of the practice of calling in nurses from home to work mandatory overtime, along with improved paid time off policies, especially for nurses with long tenure at the hospital.
The nurses had been working under a contract that expired on March 31.
Approximately 75 of them work at Three Rivers Health-Beacon Health System.
About 80 nurses and community members held an informational picket on May 19 to call attention to their campaign for a fair contract that invests in nurses and protects patients.
