A Massachusetts Superior Court has ruled that Cambridge (Mass.) Health Alliance cannot cut retiree health benefits for 289 nurses, according to a Boston Globe report.
CHA wanted to decrease retiree health benefits for Cambridge (Mass.) Hospital nurses by approximately 40 percent to offset an accounting change that would increase hospital costs by about $30 million over the next three years. The cuts would affect only nurses hired before CHA assumed management of the hospital in 1996 and were therefore still on the city payroll of Cambridge, which partly owns the hospital.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association rejected CHA's proposal and filed an unfair labor practices charge when CHA declared a negotiating impasse and tried to instate the contract without the union's agreement.
Justice Herman J. Smith, Jr., ruled that CHA must "pay to all retired nurses who are also members of the Cambridge Retirement System the same health insurance contribution rate as the City of Cambridge pays its retired employees," according to the report.
CHA, which lost almost $7 million last year, is expected to appeal the decision. Over the last three years the health system has cut more than 600 jobs and is currently planning to reduce hours for approximately 18 employees.
Read the Boston Globe report on Cambridge Health Alliance.
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CHA wanted to decrease retiree health benefits for Cambridge (Mass.) Hospital nurses by approximately 40 percent to offset an accounting change that would increase hospital costs by about $30 million over the next three years. The cuts would affect only nurses hired before CHA assumed management of the hospital in 1996 and were therefore still on the city payroll of Cambridge, which partly owns the hospital.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association rejected CHA's proposal and filed an unfair labor practices charge when CHA declared a negotiating impasse and tried to instate the contract without the union's agreement.
Justice Herman J. Smith, Jr., ruled that CHA must "pay to all retired nurses who are also members of the Cambridge Retirement System the same health insurance contribution rate as the City of Cambridge pays its retired employees," according to the report.
CHA, which lost almost $7 million last year, is expected to appeal the decision. Over the last three years the health system has cut more than 600 jobs and is currently planning to reduce hours for approximately 18 employees.
Read the Boston Globe report on Cambridge Health Alliance.
Related Articles on Healthcare Compensation:
Some Executives' Pay Stalls or Drops at Michigan's Allegiance Health
On-Call Coverage Payments Increased 4% in 2010
Florida's Halifax Health CEO Jeff Feasel Gets Raise, But Still Underpaid Comparatively