St. Francis RNs Beat 17% Wage Cuts in Three Days of Marathon Bargaining
July 2011
But the fight for a fair contract continues.
It was a tremendous presence of St. Francis RNs day and night at bargaining, and our fearlessness in speaking out and taking action, that won a big victory on the second day of bargaining.
The RN Bargaining Team got management to withdraw their proposal to cut our wages by 17%.
That same night we agreed to a 30-day contract extension under these conditions:
1. No changes to wages, hours and working conditions during the 30 day extension
2. The final contract will include our job security proposal in event of a sale
3. We get full access to pension information
4. We'd bargain on wages through midnight Thursday 7/14
We ended at midnight Thursday close to a final wage agreement. But management insisted it include increases in our health care costs. We are opposed to any increases in our healthcare.
What's Next
We will be scheduling new bargaining dates, but the economic issues remain unresolved:
- Fair wages
- Protecting our healthcare
- Securing our pension
- Safe Staffing