Registered nurses at Cape Cod Hospital and Falmouth Hospital have ratified a new three-year contract with Cape Cod Healthcare.
The union contract resolves a difficult negotiation. Nurses picketed both hospitals July 15, and they voted by mail-in balloting in July to authorize a three-day strike if they could not reach an agreement with their employer.
On average, the registered nurses will see 19 percent higher pay over three years, including step increases, according to union spokesperson Jennifer Johnson of the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
“I would say that they're happy with the settlement,” she said. “There are wage increases for all regular and part-time bargaining unit members, and they'll continue to make their step movements on the scale.”
The contract also includes raises for nurses who work nights and weekends, and who teach new nurses during their shift.
But nurses who seek to get their own healthcare outside of Cape Cod Healthcare will have to pay higher co-pays to do so, the union said.
They ratified the contract Aug. 28.
Cape Cod Healthcare said the agreement “supports both our nurses and our mission of providing the highest quality care for our patients.”
Meanwhile, a second group of registered nurses, who work for the Visiting Nurse Association of Cape Cod, which is part of Cape Cod Healthcare, has also authorized a possible three-day strike against the health system.
The visiting nurses’ one-year contract, reached last summer, is expiring.
The issues in the VNA negotiations are similar to the issues in recent negotiations for the hospital-based nurses, said Johnson, of the nurses’ union.
“The pattern of behavior for the Cape Cod Healthcare system seems to be to not hear nurses out of the gate [and] not believe that the suggestions and requests they bring to the table are real and legitimate,” she said.
In an email to CAI, Cape Cod Healthcare said the VNA of Cape Cod is committed to bargaining with in good faith and working toward a fair and competitive agreement.
“We deeply value our nurses and have presented a comprehensive proposal that includes generous wage increases, positioning VNA nurses among the highest-paid home health care professionals in the region,” Cape Cod Healthcare said in the email.
The healthcare organization said it is looking for an agreement that “reflects the expertise and commitment of our nurses, while also supporting the long-term sustainability of the agency and the quality care we deliver.”
The VNA of Cape Cod has contingency plans to meet the community’s health needs in the event of a strike, the organization said.
Another group of Cape Cod Healthcare employees, not yet unionized, is waiting for a vote on unionization to be scheduled by the National Labor Relations Board.
A majority of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives — collectively known as advanced-practice providers — signed union cards this summer requesting a vote on whether to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
