New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health has reached a three-year contract agreement with the union representing nurses and nurse practitioners.
Members of the New York Professional Nurses Union ratified the agreement after nearly two months of negotiation, a strike authorization vote and rallying, the union announced Oct. 31.
It includes wage increases for nurses, nurse practitioners and per diem workers at multiple Northwell Health facilities in New York City — Lenox Hill Hospital, Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital and Lenox Health Greenwich Village. Annual raises for nurses will average more than 5.5 percent for most nurses over the life of the contract.
NYPNU officials said the labor deal also addresses staffing by providing a process for nurses to start an arbitration process over staffing levels under the full, budgeted employee levels for each unit.
"We are very proud of the contract that our members won through collective action and persistence," Kathleen Flynn, RN, president of the New York Professional Nurses Union, said in a statement. "All of our members will finally be compensated fairly for their hard work comparable to other nurses working in Manhattan — a long overdue and much deserved change. Looking forward, when we go back to the bargaining table in three years, we will be in an even stronger position to continue our advocacy and the patients we serve."
Northwell Health spokesperson Terry Lynam also spoke positively of the deal, telling Becker's: "The agreement is fair to Lenox Hill Hospital and our nurses, providing them with competitive salary increases — 3 percent for each year of the contract — and benefit enhancements that promote their health and wellness. It also reaffirms the hospital's ongoing commitment to appropriate staffing levels that ensure our patients will continue to receive safe, high quality care and enable the hospital to expand its clinical services to meet future community needs."
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