Northside RNs approve 1-year pact with pay hikes

January 30, 2014 at 12:07a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Registered nurses at Northside Medical Center will get at least a 21/2 percent across-the-board pay increase after approving a new one-year contract with the hospital Wednesday.

A high percentage of the 390 members of the Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association ratified a deal that was immediately effective. The nurses were without a contract since July 19, 2012. A tentative agreement was reached Jan. 22, said Eric Williams, YGDNA president.

As part of the pact, some nurses will get longevity step increases they were in line for and will therefore receive more than the 21/2 percent raise, he said.

Williams would not reveal the new minimum and maximum wages. Before the new agreement, Northside RNs’ starting pay was $23.94 an hour, and the top wage was $29.88, according to the YGDNA.

Northside is an affiliate of ValleyCare Health System of Ohio, which includes Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland.

The nurses voted at 8 a.m., noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Teamsters Local 377 on Teamster Drive in Youngstown.

Williams said that while the contract is not ideal, the union considers the issues resolved and the members are relieved.

He said the YGDNA membership would have preferred a longer contract, but said the pact protects nurses’ ability to have a voice in patient treatment and quality of care and establishes staffing guidelines.

Williams said the contract may result in some people being called off layoff.

“We’ve seen a number of internal jobs go up for bid in the last couple of days,” he said.

Reaching a new agreement was not easy.

During the reportedly infrequent, contentious talks, there were two rounds of layoffs by the hospital and a one-day strike by the nurses union last Sept. 24. Upon returning to the hospital the next day, the RNs were locked out for varying periods of time ranging from 72 hours to a week.

At the end of October, Northside eliminated 56.4 full-time equivalent positions affecting union and nonunion employees as a result of combining several care units to improve efficiency. That followed the lay-off of 77 full-time equivalent staff members, including six or seven registered nurses in early August. In neither instance would the hospital provide a timetable for the layoffs.

A full-time equivalent, or FTE, is the combination of part-time positions equal to a full-time position.