Nurses OK contracts at 13 hospitals contracts cover 10,750 registered nurses

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1191124.html

Nurses OK contracts at 13 hospitals

The contracts cover 10,750 registered nurses at 13 hospitals and include a structure for improving safety.

By H.J. Cummins, Star Tribune

Last update: May 17, 2007 – 8:37 PM

The nurses who work in 13 metro-area hospitals overwhelmingly approved new three-year contracts that provide 11 percent raises, preserve their health plans, and establish committees to address issues of safety and nurse staffing levels, the Minnesota Nurses Association said Thursday.

One such committee, at Methodist Hospital, will have a budget "in the high six figures" for ergonomic equipment or other purchases for reducing patient and nurse injuries, said Arthur LaPoint, the hospital's human resources vice president.

The union that represents the 10,750 registered nurses will not release the vote count.

Negotiations were held separately at the six health care systems that cover the 13 Twin Cities hospitals. The contracts are not identical, but the major provisions in the contracts are the same, the union said. The old contracts expire May 31.

The nurses fought off efforts to change their health plans and their time-off provisions, said Karen Patek, senior staff specialist of labor relations.

Pensions, covered by a separate contract, were not part of the negotiations.

FULL story at link.