Landmark nurses’ union ratifies pact

The members of the United Nurses & Allied Professionals, Local 5067, have “overwhelmingly” ratified the UNAP’s tentative 3-year contract with Landmark Medical Center, the union announced last Wednesday.

The new agreement – reached Nov. 21, after a marathon negotiating session 16 hours long – will run through Sept. 30, 2009.

“Our members stood strong,” said Jan Peso, a nurse and the president of Local 5067. “… The hospital proposed to freeze the pension plan and more than double employee contributions for medical insurance and prescription drug coverage,” she said. “They ended up withdrawing on each of those proposals.”

The contract also includes a 10.5-percent increase in wages over the next three years, up from the hospital’s proposed 4.5 percent.

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And it offers some relief from mandatory overtime: workers will now be paid time-and-a-half if they volunteer to relieve a fellow employee who otherwise would be forced to work a double shift. “This language is really important … it enables us to further minimize the dangerous practice,” Peso said.

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