| Tentative pact holds
gains for nurses By NANCY WOLFF “The patient our choice; the union our voice,” is a favorite motto of PEF nurses, and it carried through into PS&T contract negotiations. The concern and issues that PEF nurses voiced to their union were important considerations for June Edwards, co-chair of the PEF Nurses Committee, and the other members of PEF’s PS&T Contract Team as they negotiated several key benefits affecting nurses. These advances are tailored to meet the special needs of PEF nurses, although most of these provisions also apply to the entire PS&T unit. Important gains for nurses • Salary-grade parity with the Civil Service Employees Association contract for those in salary grades 1-18. This means grade 16 nurses who are at the job rate and meet some basic criteria also will receive a $466 merit advance to their base salary on April 1, 2007, in addition to the $800 everyone in the PS&T unit is getting. The increase for qualified grade 18 state University of NY teaching and research specialty nurses is $1,413, plus the $800 (a combined gain of $2,213 on base pay). • Those who receive standby/on-call pay will keep their standby pay in addition to their recall pay when recalled to work, instead of losing their recall pay when summoned back to work. • Members working part-time will earn additional vacation, sick and personal leave accruals based on hours worked in excess of their normal part-time schedules, instead of on their formal payroll percentage. This corrects an inequity for the many part-time nurses who work, in effect, full-time because of overtime, but have earned half-time accruals. • Members in grades 1-17, which includes the majority of PEF nurses, will be able to cash out three days of annual leave for $400 to pay their health insurance premiums; • Members who work in Dutchess, Putnam and Orange counties will receive a new Mid-Hudson salary adjustment for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006. The first adjustment is $615, retroactive to April 1, 2004. This payment is in addition to the 2.5 percent raise effective the same day and the $800 bonus. • A new Article 44 provides full contractual recognition for establishment of a joint Nursing and Institutional Issues Committee with the right to share in joint labor-management funding provided in Article 14. This committee was previously authorized under a “side letter” to the contract. • Other gains in the proposed contract include longevity award portability that will enable PEF nurses who are promoted to keep their longevity awards and reach the job rate for their new title more quickly. More challenges ahead The contract team also fought hard for still more benefits for nurses, but the state would not agree to everything. Among those left over for future negotiations are: • A clothing/cleaning allowance for nurses; • Additional pay for earning academic degrees above the required minimum qualifications; • Bonus pay for charge nurses or preceptors; • A committee to investigate issues related to staff-to-patient ratios; and • Language to guarantee every nurse the right to be off work two weekends out of every four. PEF nurses can be proud of the important gains in the proposed contract. Just as it has taken years of struggle to achieve them, PEF nurses know they must continue to work for future changes in laws, the contract and management policies to improve both working conditions and patient care. More information about the tentative PS&T agreement is provided in the contract copy and summary of changes mailed to all PS&T-unit PEF members. Information is available online at www.pef.org. |
Nurses’
gains at a glance: - Pay grade parity - Keep recall pay - More leave for part-timers - Leave cash-out option - Mid-Hudson pay boost New visa date set for some |
The
Communicator September 04
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