NORTH ADAMS - Eleven months after negotiations between the North Adams Regional Hospital and the Massachusetts Nurses Association began, the two sides have finally agreed on a new three-year contract.
On Thursday, the board of trustees of Northern Berkshire Healthcare - the parent organization of NARH - unanimously approved the new contract, one day after MNA's 103-person local chapter voted overwhelmingly to ratify it.
In a statement released Thursday evening, Stephen Pagnota, chairman of the NBH board, said the new contract reflects a willingness on the part of both sides to act in the best interest of the hospital.
"This agreement with our registered nurses represents months of effort to achieve a balanced contract that provides the nurses with a competitive wage package and a fair retirement package that includes the nurses' desired benefit, while recognizing the critical need for NARH to assure its continued financial stability," said Pagnotta.
"This contract provides a benefit structure which we can sustain going forward. NARH has an obligation to this community to steward our resources as carefully as possible," he added.
The news of the ratification and approval of the contract comes following a 16-hour negotiation session earlier this month that resulted in a tentative agreement between the two parties. Negotiations had been ongoing since January and, in June, the MNA called in a federal mediator to help facilitate compromise.
Last month, the registered nurses voted in favor of a strike authorization in an attempt to move toward a settlement but decided to return to the bargaining table one last time before taking any action.
A major sticking point had been the nurses' pension plan. The hospital, based on changes in federal law and increasing costs, wanted to change current defined plan with its guaranteed benefits to a defined contribution plan. The new plan would take into account the employees' monetary contributions and other factors. The MNA said changing the plan would be particularly unfair to nurses nearing retirement.
The new contract, which is effective from April 1, addresses the nurses' concerns about retirement benefits by allowing them to maintain their current pension plan over the next two years while they attempt to "create or join" a multiemployer defined-benefit plan. To offset the cost of keeping the old structure, the nurses agreed to increase their contribution to 3.125 percent beginning on April 1, 2008, and again to 4.5 percent in 2009.
"Should the MNA be unable to develop or join a multiemployer pension plan as of Jan. 1, 2010, nurses that are 55 years of age and older will continue in the current retirement plan with a contribution of 5.25 percent. All other nurses will participate in a defined contribution plan offered by NARH," read the statement.
The contract also provides across-the-board wage increases of 4 percent per year with more opportunities for increases based on years of experience.
"By leaving the existing pension structure in place for the next two years, the hospital is stretching to support the nurses during the transition," said Richard T. Palmisano, President and CEO of NBH. "We believe that is the right thing to do, as we implement the structural changes necessary to sustain the hospital for the long term."
Representatives for the MNA did not return calls for comment.
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SteepleCats Shut Out on Road
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MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Four Vermont pitchers combined to strike out 11 and allow four hits Tuesday as the Mountaineers beat the North Adams SteepleCats, 11-0, in New England Collegiate Baseball League action.
Evan Meier, Bobby Stang, Tonny Woodie and Chris Diaz each had a hit for the SteepleCats, who used five pitchers in the loss.
North Adams (0-2) comes home Tuesday to host the Mystic Schooners at 6:30 p.m. at Joe Wolfe Field.
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