After three more days of negotiations, we have some important updates from this week’s productive series of sessions at the bargaining table.

We’ve reached tentative agreements on seven more proposals this week, which deal with non-bedside nurses, meal and rest breaks, and more. Most notably, we’ve reached an agreement that would make severance pay and continued health insurance available to bargaining unit nurses if they were to be laid off, and one that would separate attendance violations from all other forms of discipline.

We also had discussions with Munson’s administration around the importance of having safe staffing. Based on those conversations, we are optimistic that TCMNA nurses will be able to win strengthened protections in our next contract that will provide RNs with a meaningful voice in setting staffing guidelines.

We are also hopeful that we will soon be able to make some progress on winning fair wages that reflect the worth and value of our nurses. The Medical Center shared their initial wage proposal with us on Wednesday. While their initial offer was well below what we feel is needed to improve recruitment and retention and to address the ongoing staffing crisis we are experiencing, we are looking forward to being able to have direct and collaborative conversations with the employer about what kind of wages are necessary now that they’ve made a proposal. Given the strong show of unity RNs have been displaying lately, we are optimistic that if nurses stay united we can win more!

We’ll be back to the table tomorrow and every day after that through expiration on Tuesday. As your elected nurse bargaining team, we are working hard to try to come to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement for a fair contract as soon as possible.

We will continue to keep you updated about how negotiations progress. Stay tuned!

In solidarity,

Your Elected RN Bargaining Team Shannon Gillespie, RN James Walker, RN  Angie Sheffer, RN Carol Lovely, RN Claudia Longo, RN  Jeff Challender, RN  Kyle Clark, RN  Nikia Parker, RN  Tanya Jenkins, RN Tommi Sheehan, RN