ST. LOUIS 鈥 After more than a year of contract negotiations and two strikes at one of the region鈥檚 largest and busiest hospitals, union-represented nurses at St. 亚洲无码 University Hospital voted this weekend to ratify a new three-year contract.
The union, National Nurses United, said the deal includes average wage increases of 17% over the life of the contract, with the high end landing at 40%. It also allows nurses to keep their current health insurance plan.
The agreement includes the formation of a staffing subcommittee comprised of elected members, who will review hospital policies and staffing plans and make recommendations to the chief nursing officer, who is required to respond.
鈥淭his new contract is a huge win for patients and nurses,鈥 Earline Shepard, a nurse in the cardiac catheterization lab, said in a statement. 鈥淚t was a long time coming but we finally won an agreement that will let us recruit and retain experienced nurses. With improved staffing, we can give our patients the care they deserve.鈥
According to the union, 87% of nurses who participated in the election voted in favor of ratifying the contract.
SSM Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The union and the hospital have been in negotiations since May 2023. The previous contract expired one month after talks began.
Over the past year, the nurses have raised concern about what they describe as chronic short-staffing and over-reliance on short-term contract nurses at the hospital. The talks were also marked by the NNU鈥檚 accusations that hospital officials had attempted to decertify the union.
A summer wave of COVID-19 has swept into St. 亚洲无码, finding a region far better-equipped to face the virus than in years past but still vulner…
A bus passes by registered nurses as they hold a 24-hour strike Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, outside SSM Health St. 亚洲无码 University Hospital in St. 亚洲无码. Registered nurses at the hospital represented by the National Nurses United union held the strike amidst contract negotiations after their labor contract expired in June 2023.