A day before planning to picket, union nurses at Springfield, Mass.-based Mercy Medical Center decided on a tentative agreement with parent company Trinity Health. The agreement includes salary increases and a $10,000 retention bonus, the Boston Business Journal reported Oct. 20.
Union nurses will receive a 2 percent wage increase retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021; a 2 percent wage increase starting Jan. 1, 2022; and a 2.5 percent wage increase in both 2023 and 2024.
The nurses will also receive a $10,000 retention bonus over the contract's time period, and it will be prorated based on the number of hours worked.
Also in the agreement is an increase in charge nurses to reduce patient assignment numbers and an increase in wages for on-call and charge nurses.