Members of the New York Professional Nurses Union have voted to approve a tentative agreement with their employer, New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health.
With 77% of the membership voting, 76% approved the agreement, according to the union, which represents 1,500 nurses across Lenox Hill, Lenox Health Greenwich Village, and Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital, all in New York City.
In a Nov. 14 news release shared with Becker's, the NYPNU highlighted the following contract provisions:
- Improved staffing ratios that include LHH's labor and delivery unit, MEETH's ambulatory surgery unit, and more staff for LHGV's emergency department.
- Expanding areas nurses will serve in the clinical support nurse role without a patient assignment when managers are off the unit.
- Choice of a defined contribution pension plan or joining a traditional defined benefit pension plan.
- A $38 million wage package under which a majority of the membership will receive a 20% to 23% increase to their base rate over the next three years.
- Base rate wage increases for all NYPNU-represented nurses of between $21,000 to $29,000 over three years.
Kathleen Flynn, RN, president of NYPNU, said in the release: "We are thrilled that Northwell Health has come around to giving our nurses – some of the best in the world – a strong, competitive contract that will keep them feeling dignified on the job and give them the ability to provide the quality care patients deserve."
Northwell shared the following statement with Becker's:
"We are pleased to have reached a mutually beneficial agreement with NYPNU. From the start of negotiations, our goal was to establish a fair contract that supports our valued nurses and upholds the high standard of care our patients and community trust. This agreement reinforces our commitment to providing a supportive work environment for our nurses, advances our goals of recruiting and retaining top talent, and supports the highest standard of care for those we serve at Lenox Hill Hospital, Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital, and Lenox Health Greenwich Village."