Teamsters Local No. 377 and St. Elizabeth Health Center have a new three-year contract

Staff report

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Teamsters Local 377 and St. Elizabeth Health Center have agreed to a new three-year contract that will provide union members with raises each year of the contract.

The union represents 670 workers at the health center. They are nonprofessional staff including maintenance workers, clerical, enviromental services, aides and other positions. The average wage for union members is $25,000 to $26,000 per year.

Workers will receive a pay increase of 2 percent each year, said Bobbi Terwilliger, business agent for Local 377. The contract also includes a freeze on health-care premiums and generic prescription co-payments for the life of the contract.

The contract also shifts the union from receiving pension payments from the health center to a 403(b) retirement plan, Terwilliger said. Union members will receive a $1,400 yearly contribution from the company and a 50-cent match for every dollar the union member contributes.

“We’ve been working on [the contract] since March,” she said. Votes on the contract took place throughout the day Friday, and when they were tallied, more than 80 percent of union members voted to approve the contract, Terwilliger said.

The contract between union members and the health center expired May 24 but was extended by a week because there was a tentative agreement in place, she said.

“There is a lot of good language in the contract to preserve and create jobs,” Terwilliger said.

The health center uses a lot of daily workers, and the language would create new full-time jobs with benefits.

“All in all, this was not a conciliatory contract, and we’re very proud of that,” Terwilliger said.