RNs at Steward Nashoba Valley Medical Center Reach Tentative Agreement for Three-Year Contract

AYER, Mass., Sept. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- After two days of intense negotiations, the registered nurses at Steward Nashoba Valley Medical Center (NVMC) in Ayer, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), reached a tentative agreement with Steward Healthcare for a new three-year contract.  The pact includes staffing improvements, wage increases and participation in a defined benefit pension plan that the nurses had sought to allow the hospital to recruit and retain the nurses to ensure quality patient care. 

"We are thrilled to have reached this settlement for our members and the patients and communities we serve," said Fran Karaska, co-chair of the MNA bargaining unit at NVMC.  "We are also so grateful for the tremendous support we have received from community members and local officials, who stood by us throughout this long negotiation."

The settlement was reached after more than 10 months of negotiations, with several sessions held with a federal mediator.  Specific details about the agreement are being withheld until members have a chance to review the agreement prior to a vote to ratify the contract. 

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association