We will share information about contract negotiations and other issues on this page. Please talk to your colleagues about important union topics and connect with your MNA representatives. The strength of our union is based on these conversations and how well we work together to achieve our goals.
Terri deMedeiros, Co-Chair, ED
Kim Beaulieu, Co-Chair, Multi-Site Float
Victoria Rogers, Secretary, ED
Jane Mulvey, Grievance Chair, Crapo
Aisha Amado, CLC Delegate, Crapo
Jessica Kruger, Membership Coordinator, ED
Vanessa Branco, Young Worker Delegate, FCU
Cheryl Woolson, Committee, OR
Meg Pilato, Committee, Nuc Med
Kate Duff, Committee, Endo
Helena McClafferty, Committee, ASU
Jeff Almeida, Committee, OR
Kelsey Houlihan, Committee, FCU
Brooke Baptiste, Committee, ASU
Jessica Mills, Committee, ASU
Kelsey McGinnis, Committee, PACU
Megan Oliver, Committee, OR
Mariann Monteiro, Committee, Pedi
Kristen Frazier, Committee, Bourne
Barbara Webster, Committee, Knowles
Rob Hooper, Committee, ED
Alisa Allison, Committee – Multi-site Float
MNA Rep: Wendy McGill,
WMcGill@mnarn.org; 781-830-5787
Negotiation Updates
September 30, 2025
TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED!
We are thrilled to share that we reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) on Tuesday evening! Our TA is the result of more than two years of hard work and 10 months of challenging negotiations by your MNA Bargaining Committee members. We secured competitive wages — including 9 months of retro pay! — and fought hard for intermediary care staffing and resource without an assignment in all units 24/7.
While we didn’t achieve everything we wanted, we did win foundational language that enables us to address the staffing issues we prioritized in these negotiations. In addition, we secured a number of other enhancements, all of which will contribute to nurse satisfaction and safer patient care.
The full signed Tentative Agreement will be mailed to all St. Luke’s bargaining unit nurses in the coming days. Nurses will have the opportunity to review the agreement in its entirety and ask questions ahead of a ratification vote.
· A new 20-step wage step scale with 3.25% between steps, retroactive back to January 2025. Nurses will be placed on the scale based on year of RN licensure. The staff nurse wage scale will range from $40.74 to $74.81.
· In year two (January 2026), add 4% across-the-board, with the scale going from $42.37 to $77.81.
· In year three (January 2027), add 4% across-the-board, with the scale going from $44.06 to $80.92.
· For example, a nurse on step 8 would go from $44.58 to $58.76 with across-the-board increases and steps by their anniversary date in 2027!
See the images below for wage steps scales.
CONGRATULATIONS!
St. Luke’s nurses should take immense pride in our achievement. This success reflects the importance of nurses standing together through negotiations and collective action. Just as importantly, this agreement demonstrates respect for St. Luke’s nurses by Southcoast leadership.
We are committed to expanding on these gains by actively enforcing our contract. Solidarity has been and will remain our greatest strength as we continue to build our power as the MNA nurses of St. Luke’s Hospital!
SLH RN Wage Step Scales as of Jan. 12, 2025
SLH RN Wage Step Scales as of Jan. 11, 2026
SLH RN Wage Step Scales as of Jan. 10, 2027
September 15, 2025
No Agreement Reached — Picket on for Sept. 17
Management Makes Proposal that Would Maintain Dysfunction in FCU
The hospital presented a new package proposal on Monday that included progress on wages and staffing but did not have enough movement to meet our needs and reach a contract agreement. For the first time in 10 months of negotiations, we received a substantive response to our staffing proposals.
We presented a compromise, modified FCU staffing proposal and then later in the afternoon we responded to management’s wage proposal. In an effort to make progress toward an agreement, we stayed into the evening to receive an FCU counter proposal from management, and to present our modified staffing proposals. We continue to strive for contractually enforceable staffing limits for resource nurses and nurses caring for intermediary care/stepdown patients.
Management’s FCU staffing counter proposal felt like a step backward. Their proposal would maintain the status quo. Among other provisions, management’s proposal says FCU new hires may not receive full training for up to a year and they would need as much as 2+ years to train current nurses. Management insists on having final say over nurses’ patient care areas. This would perpetuate a dysfunctional system in which nurses are forced to practice in areas in which they do not feel competent. Ultimately, both nurses and patients suffer in this system. We believe FCU patients deserve specialized care from specialized nurses.
Date: Wednesday, September 17
Time: 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Location: On the sidewalk outside the main entrance of St. Luke’s.
Management’s Wage Proposal
· In year one, implement the Tobey scale plus 2.5% in year one and add a new top step 20. The wage step scale would go from $40.35 to $74.09 with NO RETRO PAY.
· In year two, add 3% across-the-board, with the scale going from $41.56 to $76.31.
· In year three, add 3% across-the-board, with the scale going from $42.81 to $78.60.
· A three-year contract with retro pay back to the beginning of 2025.
· In year one, implement the Tobey scale plus 3.5% and add a new top step 20. The wage scale would go from $40.94 to $74.82.
· In year two (January 2026), add 4% across-the-board, with the scale going from $42.58 to $77.81.
· In year three, add 4% across-the-board and a new top step 21, with the scale going from $44.28 to $83.55.
· A nurse on step 8 would go from $44.58 to $58.77 with across-the-board increases and steps by the end of the contract.
Our proposal would make our entire wage step scale more competitive by providing 4% across-the-board increases in years two and three. These proposed increases are in line with what Cape Cod and Plymouth nurses won in their most recent contract negotiations. Additionally, the top step at Cape Cod and Plymouth will be well over $80 per hour by January 2027. To remain competitive, St. Luke’s needs to stay in step with the Cape and Plymouth. Management’s proposal does not include retro pay. Retro pay is an essential part of an agreement. No retro is a deal breaker!
BE THERE ON 9/17 FOR A STRONG CONTRACT — UNITY IS OUR POWER!
September 5, 2025
MNA RN Co-Chairs Present Petition Signed by 600+ Nurses to Southcoast CEO
On Wednesday, MNA Co-Chairs Kim Beaulieu and Terri deMedeiros and other members of the committee met with Southcoast CEO David McCready to deliver our petition signed by more than 600 St. Luke’s nurses. Kim and Terri talked about our outstanding bargaining priorities, focusing on safe staffing and competitive wages, and how these issues directly impact patient care, nurse morale, and the ability of St. Luke’s to recruit and retain nurses.
The meeting was respectful and productive. Kim and Terri made it clear that nurses are united and serious about seeing additional improvements in our contract. Following the meeting, the Co-Chairs notified McCready that we are filing the legally required 10-day notice for an informational picket to be held on September 17, in the event we do not reach an agreement during our next bargaining session on September 15.
While we prefer to reach a fair contract settlement at the table on the 15th rather than hit the streets, we are prepared to picket if Southcoast fails to make necessary investments in St. Luke’s nurses and our patients.
Informational Picket – September 17
A FAIR CONTRACT TO PROTECT PATIENT CARE AT ST. LUKE’S!Informational Picket Details
Date: Wednesday, September 17
Time: 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Location: On the sidewalk outside the main entrance of St. Luke’s.
What is an informational picket?
This is not a strike. It is a legal, public demonstration of unity where nurses and supporters gather outside the hospital to call attention to our fight for a fair contract. Patient care access will not be disrupted. Nurses who are not working, or who are on break, are urged to attend and bring family, friends, and pets. Strong participation by nurses will directly impact what we can achieve at the bargaining table.
· Enforceable staffing language that protects nurses and ensures quality care for our community.
· Improvements in resource nurse assignments focused on the night shift.
· Safe limits to the assignments of nurses caring for intermediate care/stepdown patients.
· Market-competitive wages to recruit and retain nurses for safe patient care.
Our incredibly successful petition demonstrates that St. Luke’s nurses are more than ready to stand together and demand that Southcoast respects the essential care we provide. We look forward to seeing you on the picket line on September 17!
Before we picket, join us for negotiations September 15 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Library Room 2 Bright Spot.
August 18, 2025
MNA Nurses Present Comprehensive Package Proposal
On Monday, our committee presented a comprehensive package proposal to management covering all remaining proposals. Our package represents a determined effort to get this contract settled. It included revised economics and on-call, while also holding firm on important staffing and working conditions proposals.
We signed off on two tentative agreements. In one, both parties are agreeing to drop proposals related to release and reassignment and MTM/travelers. In the other, we reached agreement on scale placement for vascular access and RN first assist.
Management continues to be unwilling to agree to a one-time choice for Level II per diems nurses to opt out of Level II and into Level I. That remains the final sticking point in our negotiation over per diem terms and conditions. Look for more on this topic.
Our latest wage proposal would place us closer to the wages of other hospitals in the region. Our proposal provides retro pay and strong raises right away by placing all nurses based on licensure years on a shortened 20 step wage scale.
· Year 1—Jan. 1 2025: $40.37 to $77.61
· Year 2—Jan. 1 2026: $41.98 to $80.72
· Year 3—Jan. 1 2027: $43.66 to $83.94
Our wages must increase to a more competitive level. Right now, nurses are coming to St. Luke’s, getting experience and leaving for better wages elsewhere. Cape Cod and BI Plymouth nurses will make more than $80 per hour by January 2026. Contrast that with St Luke’s management’s last proposal, with top step pay $71.06 January 2026 and $73.93 in the third year, January 2027.
We are seeking the elimination of on call in the FCU, three-hour guaranteed call back pay, weeknight call in PACU and ASU from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., and language prohibiting the hospital from establishing on-call in departments that operate 24/7.
We have been at the table since November. The hospital’s engagement on the topic of staffing has been minimal. St. Luke’s is a Level II Trauma Center. There are standards of care that the hospital has committed to provide as part of that designation. The staffing we see on the floor does not always meet those standards.
While the hospital says it wants to provide an appropriate level of staffing, we are seeking enforceable, written commitments in our contract to ensure appropriate staffing. Our proposals are reasonable and will help the hospital meet the requirements that come with being the flagship hospital in the system and the largest hospital in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Our petition calling on CEO David McCready to agree to a fair contract has tremendous traction among St. Luke’s nurses. In less than 10 days, more than 50% of the bargaining unit has signed.
We have heard there is another petition circulating the hospital asking us to settle for what management already has on the table. This doesn’t make sense. Based on the large number of signatures we have been gathering, it is clear nurses want better from the hospital.
Sign the petition and join us September 15 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Library Room 2 Bright Spot.
August 5, 2025
Management Drops Incremental Wage Proposal, Refuses to Agree to Most of Our Staffing Improvements
It was management’s turn on Tuesday to present proposals. They started the session by providing a comprehensive package proposal. There were glaring omissions in their package. Their wage proposal only added 1.5% to their previous wage proposal from March. They also continue to withhold retro pay and reject enforceable staffing language around resource nurses and step-down/intermediate care patient assignments.
Management’s package proposal omitted or rejected many of our priority proposals and fell short on others:
-Resource nurse staffing proposal.
-FCU staffing and on-call.
-Patient assignment limits for nurses caring for step-down/intermediate care patients.
-On-call conditions and requirements.
-An incentive pay program.
RN Pay Would Remain Non-Competitive Under Management’s Proposal
There is a stark difference between our last wage proposal and management’s — a $7.25 an hour difference at the top of the wage scale. Our proposed scale in year one of a new contract would range from $40.37 to $78.31. Management’s would go from $39.96 to $71.06.
Their proposal simply does not match the reality of working at our hospital. St. Luke’s is a regional hub for trauma care and maternity. We care for patients requiring complex surgeries and critical care. Our Level II Trauma designation affects many areas of our hospital. There is a higher likelihood of nurses being called in for the OR, periop, and PACU. The ED is busier. The ICU, PCU, and intermediate care we provide means more training and staffing needs. All of this makes the wage and staffing improvements we are seeking even more urgent.
Next steps? We need to take action like nurses across the state have to win excellent contracts. Management needs to hear a strong message from all 800 St. Luke’s nurses. We are launching a petition to CEO David McCready. We call on McCready to agree to an MNA contract that respects St. Luke’s nurses and ensures patients receive the quality of care they deserve. Look out for bargaining committee members circulating our petition. Now is the time to quickly mobilize and get the best agreement possible.
Your participation in signing our petition will be critical to our success. Join us for negotiations on August 18 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Library Room 2 Bright Spot.
July 30, 2025
MNA Committee Presents New Wage Proposal, Urging Southcoast to Provide Competitive Wages that Value Nurses and Improve Staffing
We presented a revised wage proposal to management on Wednesday. Our proposal would return St. Luke’s to a much more competitive position among regional hospitals and help with RN recruitment and retention.
Additionally, we reached tentative agreements on vacation selection and holidays, and management gave us a revised per diem proposal. The hospital made positive movement from its last per diem proposal, including agreeing to a cap on per diem nurses per unit, but also proposed unacceptable language around increased per diem commitments. We developed and presented a counter proposal that rejected the takeaways in management’s proposal while providing nurses an opportunity to switch from Level II to Level I per diem status.
St. Luke’s has fallen far behind when it comes RN wages. The hospital used to be in strong position among other hospitals in the region. In recent years, several hospitals have significantly surpassed St. Lukes, including BI Plymouth, Brockton Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center, and the Cape Cod Healthcare hospitals. A recent settlement at BI Plymouth gave those nurses substantial wage increases. Nurses on the Cape have a significant wage proposal on the table from management. Remaining competitive on wages is critical to safe patient care. Why would nurses work at St. Luke’s if they can make substantially more money at a nearby hospital?
Our proposal is based on a two-year contract. You can see our proposed wage scale on the second page of this update.
Tentative Agreement on Holidays
We clarified what counts as the evening holiday shift for Christmas and New Year’s across hospital units. For the evening shift, the holiday would be December 25 and January 1. Nurses on the evening shift would continue to receive time-and-a-half premium pay on December 24 and December 31, but those shifts would not qualify as a holiday.
TA Reached on Vacation Picks
We have reached a tentative agreement on our annual vacation planner that will:
• Fix the 12-hour shift issue where nurses were unfairly denied vacation time due to partial shift overlaps.
• Ensure fair distribution of weekly hours across the calendar year, including the three major holiday weeks.
• Guarantee access to any remaining unpicked vacation hours to give nurses more flexibility and opportunity to take time off.
MANAGEMENT WAGE SCALE PROPOSAL MARCH 2025:
June 26, 2025
RN Feedback Informs Updated MNA Staffing, On-Call and Per Diem Proposals
Agreement Reached on Vacation Picks
On Thursday, we presented to management a series of revised proposals on staffing, on-call, and per diem requirements informed by extensive feedback from nurses received through conversations and our survey. This feedback has enabled us to hone our proposals so they best fit the needs of nurses and advance us toward agreement.
FCU nurses have called management’s version of an FCU staffing proposal inadequate to address the current mosh pit of nurses being forced to float from area to area. The current practice is dissatisfying, undermines competency, and interrupts continuity of care. Below are key elements of our revised FCU staffing proposal:
· Nurses would be hired into one of the FCU patient care areas (L&D, Postpartum, Level II Nursery and Pediatrics) or a newly established FCU Float Pool.
· The hospital would determine how may nurses are needed to staff each patient care area and the float pool, including backfill for ETO, LOAs, and sick time.
· FCU float pool nurses would be trained to work in two of the patient care areas and receive the same float pool differential that other in-house float pool nurses receive.
· Current FCU nurses would choose by seniority a patient care area or the float pool.
· Training and orientation outside a nurses’ patient care area would be voluntary.
· Nurses would be scheduled in their patient care area but would be able to voluntarily sign up for extra hours outside their area if they are competent in that area.
The survey results we have received show resource nurse without an assignment is a high priority proposal. We have incorporated those results and management’s feedback into our revised proposal, which would:
· Require a resource nurse to be assigned on all shifts, on every unit, every day (24/7).
· Provide for resource nurses to have no patient assignment at all times in: ICU, PCU, Knowles, ED, FCU, and Pedi. Currently, some of these areas with critical care and higher acuity patients already maintain resource nurse without an assignment. Our proposal would codify that practice in our contract.
· Provide for resource nurses to have no patient assignment on the day and evening shifts and 0-2 patients on the night shift in: Bourne, Crapo, Century 4, Century 5, and Wilks. Based on nurses’ feedback, the night shift is where nurses are reporting resource nurses are taking on 3 or more patients. We seek to limit that with this proposal.
· Adjust staffing grids to ensure the resource nurse assignment guidelines listed above act as an enhancement to current RN staffing and not increase patient assignments for non-resource staff nurses.
We have proposed changes to on-call that reflect the needs of different departments. Our proposal also seeks to limit the hospital’s expansion of on-call in areas where it does not exist currently.
· Right now, FCU on-call is mandatory overtime masquerading as on-call because nurses are routinely called in to cover entire shifts. Our proposal would replace required on-call system in the FCU with voluntary on-call.
· We proposed that weeknight call for ASU and PACU be from 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
· We would increase the minimum call-back pay guarantee from two hours pay to three hours pay in all areas where on-call is used.
· Our proposal also includes a provision requiring the hospital to bargain with us and reach mutual agreement before establishing on-call in any departments that do not have on-call.
· The hospital would not be allowed to create on-call in 24/7 departments.
In our survey and in conversations with our committee, per diem nurses rebelled against management’s burdensome proposal to increase per diem requirements. Our per diem proposal would:
· Give current Level II per diem nurses the option to convert from Level II status to Level I status, while grandfathering in Level II per diem nurses who opt to remain in Level II.
· After ratification, eliminate the hiring of nurses at Level II per diem status.
· Cap the total number of per diem positions on each unit/department to 15% of the total number of regular full-time and part-time nurses working in that unit/department. St. Luke’s has an extraordinarily high number of per diems compared to other Massachusetts hospitals. Per diem nurses are an important part of staffing, but there should be an appropriate balance between regular full and part-time nurses and per diem nurses.
· The proposed cap would not effect current per diem nurses. In units where the number of per diem positions exceeds 15%, the threshold would be reached by the hospital not hiring additional per diem nurses to replace those who leave until 15% is reached.
· Create a minimum commitment level for per diem nurses who work in lactation, care coordination, peri-operative services (ASU, PACU, OR, Endo), radiology, cardiopulmonology, wound center, and enterostomal. Per diem nurses in these areas would continue to be paid on the scale. There minimum commitment would be to work at least one eight-hour shift every three months, with no weekend or holiday commitment.
Getting Close on Holidays
We are seeking to clarify what counts as the evening holiday shift for Christmas and New Year’s across hospital units. For the evening shift, the holiday would be December 25 and January 1. Nurses on the evening shift would continue to receive time-and-a-half premium pay on December 24 and December 31, but those shifts would not qualify as your holiday.
TA Reached on Vacation Picks
We have reached a tentative agreement on our annual vacation planner that will:
· Fix the 12-hour shift issue where nurses were unfairly denied vacation time due to partial shift overlaps.
· Ensure fair distribution of weekly hours across the calendar year, including the three major holiday weeks.
· Guarantee access to any remaining unpicked vacation hours to give nurses more flexibility and opportunity to take time off.
June 10, 2025
Nurses Strongly Reject Management Proposals to Release Permanent Nurses Ahead of Travelers and Impose Burdensome Requirements on Per Diem Nurses
Nurses have been expressing outrage about two proposals that management has kept on the table despite our repeated rejections: Per diem requirements and reassignment and release. Drawing from our preliminary survey results and comments from nurses, we presented powerful cases against these proposals on Tuesday.
Reassignment and Release Management has made a reassignment and release proposal that would allow the hospital to keep travelers and MTMs working while sending our nurses home. We proposed language that would put volunteers at the top of the list. Management rejected this proposal. The hospital’s position prioritizes hospital profit margins over nurses who are invested in St. Luke’s and have allowed the hospital to thrive.
Nurses are extremely frustrated by the idea that nurses who work holidays and every other weekend, and provide consistent, dedicated care could be sent home while highly paid travelers remain. Management stated that their aim is to reduce expenses. Respect for our nurses and quality patient care should not come second to cost-cutting. Our current contract represents the MNA standard that temporary nurses are released first, period. Their proposal would send our nurses home first and is a flat-out takeaway for St. Luke’s nurses!
Management’s per diem proposal has gotten very loud pushback from per diem nurses. Our preliminary survey results show that of nearly 100 nurses who responded to a question about management’s per diem proposal, 43% said they were extremely concerned and would consider leaving the hospital. Another 29% were very concerned. Nurses have described the proposal as “insane” and “crazy.” One nurse summed it by saying, “12s on weekends and holiday rotation (beyond our current holiday requirement) is a deal breaker for many of us.”
Management’s proposal would:
· Increase per diem nurses’ commitment from 48 hrs to 60 hrs per schedule period.
· Require 12-hour shift work on weekends.
· Require per diem nurses to rotate their holiday shift availability. Per diem nurses would be required to pick a different holiday than they worked the previous year.
· Establish minimum per diem work commitments, including weekends and on-call, in departments that currently have no minimum work commitment (i.e. lactation, care coordination, periop, IR, wound center, and a few others).
Nurses on our committee presented to management the feedback we have been receiving from FCU nurses. We summarized our preliminary survey results, in which the vast majority of FCU nurses said our proposal is a “high priority,” and shared comments from nurses:
— “I work in FCU. Last Thursday night I spent the first 4 hours of my shift in L&D as a baby nurse, the next 4 on post partum and the final 4 in L2. You cannot allow them an inch or they will abuse us to death.”
— “My first area is L2, second area is L&D. However, I’m in L&D 95% of the time, which I actually prefer. My issue is only being in L2 a few times last year. I went many months without being in L2. Then we have a premature delivery, and I’m expected to go do an admission. That’s not fair to us or our patients!! We should be proficient in one area, not average in 2 areas!”
Our next session is scheduled for June 26. We plan to take up these and other high priority proposals. Fill out our survey using the QR code above to help us make the strongest case possible as we move forward in negotiations, and ensure our decisions reflect your experiences and priorities.
May 29, 2025
As negotiations progress, MNA Committee clears several proposals from table and distributes St. Luke’s nurse survey
We are moving forward in negotiations and are ready to tackle our core priorities: Staffing and wages. With the progress we have made at the table, and management agreeing to discuss hospital staffing at our next session on June 10, these issues are becoming front and center. To help us make the strongest case possible and ensure our decisions reflect your experiences and priorities, we are distributing a negotiations survey. Fill out the survey online: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/hbn1ib350j. We will also have paper copies available at the hospital. Your responses will guide our committee’s bargaining approach as we get closer to an agreement in the coming weeks. We encourage everyone to fill out the sections that apply to you. However, the survey not only gives you a voice — it allows you to see the shared challenges your colleagues are facing. Unity and participation will help us get across the finish line faster with the strongest contract possible.
We are close to agreement on improved annual vacation planner contract language.
We are in agreement on:
• Fix the 12-hour shift issue where nurses were unfairly denied vacation time due to partial shift overlaps.
• Ensure fair distribution of weekly hours across the full calendar year, including the three major holiday weeks.
The remaining open issue of this proposal is:
· Guaranteeing access to any remaining unpicked vacation hours throughout the year to give nurses more flexibility and opportunity to take time off.
Our proposal would guarantee nurses access to all remaining weekly allocated but unselected vacation hours. The hospital is proposing that nurses must have two weeks in their ETO bank in order to access this time.
There was movement on several other proposals on Thursday. We signed off on tentative agreements on two proposals: Assault pay and Attire and Appearance. We also mutually agreed to withdraw a few other proposals. These withdrawals allow us to focus on our most important priorities.
We are entering a critical stretch. Your participation in the survey and the entire bargaining process is essential. The more engagement we have among nurses, the more we can achieve. Join us for negotiations on June 10 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Library Room 2 Bright Spot and fill out the survey!
May 21, 2025
TA Reached on Work Schedules; Management Offers FCU Proposal
We are making headway in negotiations, though several key issues remain outstanding, including wages, staffing, and planned time off. One of our next steps will be to distribute a survey to nurses seeking information about our top issues and asking nurses for their input on our related proposals. The survey will inform our committee as we bargain over these topics and decide collectively what actions we should take to ensure an excellent contract settlement. Look for that survey in the next week or so.
Work Schedules TA
We reached a tentative agreement (TA) with management on Wednesday about work schedules. This TA, like all others, will take effect once nurses vote to ratify our final contract agreement. Our work schedules agreement maximizes nurses’ choice over their schedules to benefit their work-life balance while making our contract language less complex and easier to enforce. We have maintained a strong self-scheduling model and protected nurses from arbitrary displacement. Ultimately, for scheduling to work as well as possible, the hospital needs to provide sufficient RN staffing.
- Permanently scheduled nurses will not be moved off their scheduled days and displaced by per diems, travelers, or MTMs. Per diems will not be displaced by travelers or MTMs.
- If a conflict arises about which nurses should be scheduled on a particular day, that would be resolved by seniority.
- Based on department needs, day and evening nurses will be required to sign up for a maximum of six Mondays and/or Fridays per scheduling period. Night nurses will be required to sign up for a maximum of six Sundays and/or Thursdays.
Planned Time Off Proposal Status
Management told us Wednesday they are considering an aspect of our last proposal on vacation picks around whether to allow nurses to use all annual ETO accrual in selecting unchosen vacation time. We are otherwise close to agreement on this issue. Our vacation selection proposal will:
- Fix the 12-hour shift problem in which nurses have been denied access to vacation weeks because a portion of their 12-hour shift has been selected by a more senior nurse.
- Distribute weekly hours evenly across all weeks of the year, including the three holiday vacation weeks.
- Add new language ensuring nurses’ access to remaining unpicked vacation hours throughout the year.
SLH FCU Staffing Counter Proposal
Management made a reasonable counter proposal on Wednesday to our FCU separate care areas proposal, though we still have differences in our approach to this issue. Our proposal would create four separate patient care areas (Labor & Delivery, Postpartum, Level II Nursery, and Pediatrics). Nurses would not be required to train or work outside of their chosen area. Management’s proposal would establish primary and secondary practice areas for FCU nurses. One of the biggest challenges in reaching an agreement is the hospital’s failure to keep up with training nurses so they achieve competency in multiple areas. We will continue to push for management to commit to strong contract language around this topic and our other staffing proposals.
April 28, 2025
Bargaining Centers on Vacation Scheduling and Work Schedules, along with Management’s Need to Reckon with the Hospital’s RN Staffing Issues
Much of Monday’s bargaining session focused on our vacation scheduling and work schedules processes. Management gave us a counter proposal on vacations early in the session. We gave them revised MNA proposals on work schedules and vacation scheduling to end the session. We also jointly reviewed all proposals and we pressed them about our staffing proposals.
On work schedules, our overall intention is to simplify our current scheduling language without undermining nurses’ self-scheduling rights. Also, under our revised proposal nurses would not be moved off their scheduled days and be displaced by per diems, travelers or MTMs. If a conflict arises about which permanent nurses should be scheduled on a particular day, that would be resolved by seniority.
Our vacation scheduling proposal will:
· Fix the 12-hour shift problem in which nurses have been denied access to vacation weeks because a portion of their 12-hour shift has been selected by a more senior nurse.
· Distribute weekly hours evenly across all weeks of the year, including the three holiday vacation weeks.
· Add new language ensuring nurses’ access to remaining unpicked vacation hours throughout the year.
If you are a permanent or per diem nurse, you cannot be cancelled 1st under any circumstances.
Travelers and MTMs must be cancelled first. If you are working regular time, overtime, premium, incentive, or any other type of shift — you cannot be cancelled before a traveler or MTM.
**If you have been cancelled in violation of these rights, contact a MNA Committee member.**
Staffing Problems — Critical to Patient Safety — Must Be Addressed
Management says it views our staffing proposals as economic proposals, along with topics such as wages and differentials. Our staffing proposals include: Separate FCU care areas, adding PACU and OR positions to staff 24/7, resource nurse without an assignment 24/7 in all units, and intermediary care (step-down) patients limited to a 3-patient assignment. We urged management to consider these proposals as critical to the hospital’s ability to provide safe care and asked them to respond to us at a future bargaining session about the staffing issues we have raised.
Staffing conditions have deteriorated in recent years. Off-shift resource nurses are frequently given full patient assignments, caring for five patients while other nurses on their shift also have full 5-patient assignments. Instead of the four patients typically represented in the grids, nurses outside of specialty units are increasingly given five patients.
The designation of St. Luke’s as a certified Level II trauma center comes with certain standards of care. St. Luke’s is not always meeting these standards because of understaffing. Trauma patients require higher-acuity care beginning in the emergency department and carrying through to where they end up receiving care in an inpatient unit. Nurses who care for Intermediary care (step-down) patients are too often assigned four or five patients instead of an appropriate 3-patient assignment. Intermediary care nurses are then unable to meet the standard of care trauma patients require. In PACU and OR, nurses are dealing with excessive on-call demands. Surgeries are extending into late hours and routine cases are scheduled on weekends. ASU nurses are increasingly used as PACU backup for higher-acuity cases, despite lacking the specialized PACU experience required for such complex patients.
Management has so far rejected our staffing proposals aside from our FCU patient care category proposal. We urge management to have a serious discussion with us about how it is staffing the hospital and negotiate improvements that will benefit patients and nurses.
April 14, 2025
MNA Nurses Seeking to Improve RN Scheduling and Planned Time Off Without Upsetting What Works Currently
On Monday, we had productive discussions with management about our proposals on work schedules and planned time off. We were concerned about management’s approach to these issues based on their counter proposals. Management also asked us questions about our FCU staffing proposal as they consider how to respond.
Work Schedules
Our goal is to simplify our current scheduling language without undermining the way scheduling works well in some units. Management gave us a counter proposal that took away nurses’ ability to self-schedule and gave managers complete discretion. Their proposal would only allow nurses to request up to three days off in a six-week period, with no guarantee of receiving them.
We discussed ways to ensure nurses can continue to self-schedule by expressing preference for work days. Nurses should also not be moved off their scheduled days and be displaced by per diems, travelers or MTMs. If a conflict arises about which permanent nurses should be scheduled on a particular day, that should be resolved by seniority. Some units are having more scheduling problems than others, such as the FCU. Addressing the FCU’s work schedules issues is directly connected to our proposal to create separate FCU patient care areas.
FCU Staffing
Management told us last session they were considering our FCU staffing proposal. Today they asked us a few questions about the proposal. Management asked how they would address the potential problem of too many nurses selecting one patient care area under our proposal. That would be resolved by seniority. We also said many nurses want an OB float pool. Nurses in that pool would be trained and competent in multiple areas, be eligible for the float pool differential.
Planned Time Off
Based on the 2025-2026 vacation planner, most hospital units are already providing equal time off availability across all weeks, including vacation weeks. This should apply equally to all units. We reiterated the main points of our proposal:
- The weekly allocation of time off should allow nurses to use their ETO accrual based on their guaranteed vacation picks, i.e. 0-4 years of service (3 weeks), 4-18 (4 weeks), 18+ (5 weeks).
- Allocate time off equally during all non-prime time weeks, including the three holiday vacation weeks.
- Address 12-hour shift nurses being denied time off because hours are not being properly distributed per shift.
- Shorten the prime-time period.
Tentative Agreements Reached
Tuition/Certification Reimbursement: We reached an agreement on management’s proposal to simplify tuition reimbursement to a nurse receiving up to $2,500 per calendar year (or $1,500 for part-time) and add certifications to this section of our contract.
Seniority: We agreed to management’s proposal to make minor updates to our existing seniority language.
March 25, 2025
Management Makes Initial Wage Proposal:
– Matches Tobey RN Wage Scale But St. Luke’s Would Continue to be the Largest Hospital in the Region with Among the Lowest Paid Nurses
– Management Falls Short on Differentials, Medical and Dental Insurance and Staffing
St. Luke’s is the largest hospital in the Southcoast, Cape and Islands. It is a Level II trauma center. We are also a regional maternity center serving patients whose local hospitals have closed their maternity units. This is not reflected in management’s wage proposal. Their proposal moves St. Luke’s nurses to the current Tobey scale. This would reduce our steps to 19 so nurses get to the top faster and be based on licensure year, as we have proposed. It is a meaningful initial proposal, but fails to bring St. Luke’s nurses where we need to be. Look on the second/back page of this update for a comparison of our proposed wage scale, St. Luke’s management’s proposed scale, and what BI Plymouth recently proposed to MNA nurses.
Our top rate right now is $67.58. Management proposed a new top rate of $70.01. Our proposal would bring us to $81.79. Other hospitals in the region are paying their nurses more while negotiating even higher pay rates. Right now, Brockton’s top rate is $73.94 and they are back in negotiations. Cape Cod’s top rate is $71.20. Plymouth’s is $70.85 and management there recently proposed wages that would top out at $76.86. Plymouth wages will surely end up even higher since nurses there have picketed and taken a strike authorization vote.
Management’s proposal is now the minimum they will offer. They emphasized that it was their first proposal on wages, meaning they have room to improve. We identified additional areas in which their proposal was inadequate:
- No change in the current on-call rate. We have proposed increasing on-call from $5 an hour to the MA minimum wage.
- Preceptor differential: Management proposed an increase from $1.75 an hour to $2.25. We have proposed $5 an hour.
- Charge differential: Management proposed an increase from $2 an hour to $3. We have proposed $5 an hour.
- Evening differential: Management proposed an increase from $2.80 an hour to $2.90. We have proposed $5 an hour.
- Management ignored all of our other differential increase proposals.
- No improvement in medical and dental insurance. They would maintain the status of those plans for two years.
- Rejected all of our staffing proposals except management said they are considering our FCU separate patient care area proposal.
Wages must be competitive, appropriately compensating St. Luke’s nurses for the care we provide our communities.
St. Luke’s management proposed wage scale:
BI Plymouth management proposed wage scale:
MNA SLH proposed wage scale:
March 14, 2025
Nurses Work Hard to Earn Time Off, Management Tells Us: Maybe We’ll Let You Use It
Management tries to spin us that having combined ETO is better than separate sick and vacation time. We can use the ETO we don’t need for sick time on vacations, they say. We can cash out unused time to avoid losing ETO when we hit max, they say.
This is false advertising. In reality, nurses are reprimanded for using too much sick time, restricted during holiday weeks and a lengthy prime time period, and limited in how much ETO we can cash out. Nurses lose the ability to use hard-earned ETO and take time away from work because of management’s many restrictions.
With our vacation proposal, the goal is to make sure nurses have maximum access to taking their accrued time off. A counter proposal management gave us on Friday does not fully address our concerns.
- Our proposal allocates time off equally during all non-prime time weeks, including the three holiday vacation weeks (Christmas, President’s Day, and Patriot’s Day), not based on how individual managers decide to allocate time. Currently, managers have been restricting vacation to only one nurse per department during holiday weeks (even beyond the 3 listed in our contract). Management’s proposal would allow managers to continue restricting time off during the three holiday vacation weeks. Some managers provide equal time off during holiday vacation weeks, but this should be done fairly for all nurses.
- Our proposal enables nurses to get time off that is available after the annual vacation planner deadline has passed. Whatever time is left over would be available for nurses to select throughout the year. Management would leave those post-planner vacation requests completely up to the discretion of managers.
- Our proposal shortens the prime-time period from the second Sunday in May to the third Saturday in September to Memorial Day through Labor Day. Nurses should be guaranteed a week off during the actual peak vacation season. Management has refused to shorten prime time.
It was a meaningful counter proposal, but did not completely meet our needs.
On Friday, we also gave management a counter proposal and tuition reimbursement and certifications. We agree with management’s proposal that tuition and certification should be combined within a total allowance of up to $2,500 annually, but suggested other revisions to their proposal.
March 6, 2025
MNA Nurses Seeking Better Work-Life Balance with our Vacation Planner Proposal
On Thursday, we had a discussion with management about our vacation planner proposal. Our goal is a transparent system that allows for fair and equitable distribution of time off. The hospital needs to make sure nurses can use the ETO allotted to them, take time off and have a work-life balance. In some units, like the ED and OR, the vacation scheduling system is working well. In others, including the FCU and Crapo, it is a mess.
There should be a weekly allocation of time off calculated to ensure that all nurses can use all their time. That calculation should be based on fully staffed units.
- We have proposed that time off be allocated equally during all non-prime time weeks, including the three holiday vacation weeks, not based on how individual managers decide to allocate time.
- We are also seeking to address a problem in which 12-hour shift nurses have been denied time off for part of their shift because hours are not being properly distributed per shift.
Management said they would take our feedback and consider how to respond to our proposal. There was also a discussion about planned time during the three vacation weeks (Christmas, Presidents’ Day, and Patriots Day).
ED Electronic Beds Issue
As part of our ED surge incentive agreement, management said they would institute a better system for monitoring patients in hallway beds. This week ED staff experienced a sudden change in how beds are designated that disrupted patient care safety. We addressed with management their lack of communication about the change. They said they are listening to our feedback. MNA ED nurse leaders will be doing a walk-through with management on Friday.
Join us for negotiations on March 14 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Library Conference Room 2 Bright Spot.
We are stronger together!
February 24, 2025
We Strongly Reject Management Work Schedules Proposal that Would Throw Nurses’ Lives into Disarray
We have proposed giving nurses more choice over their schedules. Management wants to take away rights we have in our current contract. They would make it harder for nurses to maintain a work-life balance. Management’s proposal would:
- Take away self scheduling and give manager’s complete discretion. All scheduling would be based on requests that may or may not be honored.
- Continue to require nurses to work six Mondays and Fridays per schedule (or Thursdays and Sundays for night shift nurses). Of those six days, management’s proposal would require nurses to work at least two Mondays and two Fridays (or two Thursdays and two Sundays).
- Only allow nurses to request up to 3 days off in a six-week period, with no guarantee of receiving them.
Management’s proposal would be a huge disincentive for nurses to stay or move to permanent status. Work-life balance and nurses having control over their schedules is a fundamental right of any MNA contract. We will not back down over this issue. Our proposal includes:
- The order of priority for scheduling would be: Permanent nurses, per diem nurses, and then temporary nurses like MTMs and travelers.
- Scheduling requests would be granted by bargaining unit seniority.
- The hospital would post needs, and all nurses could sign up for straight time extra shifts on a rotating basis.
- We have similar language at Tobey, ensuring nurses have the greatest rights and preferences over their work schedules.
On Monday, management rejected our MTM and traveler limitation proposal, and gave us counters on holidays and military leave. We reached a tentative agreement on military leave, a management proposal about reimbursing nurses for time spent in military reserve training.
A Show of Power: ED Nurses Secure Incentive Agreement
The ED has been overwhelmed by a surge of patients. Despite requests that management address the problem and offer incentive pay, the hospital had failed to improve ED staffing. To get management to act, we used a key source of our strength: Nurse unity.
ED nurses packed a recent labor management meeting, sharing harrowing stories. ED patients have been put at risk by the hospital’s inaction. Our efforts pushed management to agree to an incentive program lasting through April 12. Nurses working extra or overtime shifts in the ED will receive an additional $30 per hour. Management also agreed to add more upstaff to address the surge. Unity is power!
Jan. 21, 2025
MNA Nurses Testify on Pay Disparities and Present Wage, Health Benefits, and Staffing Improvement Proposals
St. Luke’s nurses make far less per hour than nurses at Tobey, Cape Cod, Plymouth, and other Southeastern MA hospitals. We presented our full package of economic and staffing proposals on Tuesday, the last day for both sides to submit proposals.
During bargaining, nurses spoke up one by one, sharing how much they earn now, how much more they would make at Tobey and their hourly rate under our proposal. As you can see in the chart below, it actually takes longer to make less money at St. Luke’s.
Victoria Rogers, licensed in 2018: $42.01 currently. Would make $49.24 at Tobey and $53.13 under our proposal. Additionally, because of how the bottom of the scale was compressed, Victoria only makes a small amount more than nurses licensed years after her.
Terri deMedeiros, licensed in 1998: $62.43 currently. Would make $70.01 at Tobey and $81.79 under our proposal. Even though Terri has been an RN for 27 years, she still not at the top of the current wage scale. If she worked at any other MNA hospital, she would have long ago been at the top.
St. Luke’s is NOT incentivizing nurse recruitment and retention with its current wages. Expensive healthcare benefits, inconsistent and inadequate incentive pay, and unsafe staffing are not helping either. Join us for negotiations on January 28. We are stronger together!
MNA Wage Proposal Summary:
January 1, 2025:Create a new 19-step, 4% wage step scale (up from 2% between steps) based on RN license year. The scale would go from $40.37 to $81.79 in year one.
January 1, 2026: An additional 5% across-the-board for every nurse. The scale would go from $42.39 to $85.88 in year two.
*These proposed increases are in addition to nurses getting their annual hire date anniversary step raises.
Jan. 8, 2025
MNA Proposal Seeks Equitable Planned Time Off
On January 8, we met for our 4th bargaining session. Management gave us proposals on per diems and seniority. Below are our proposal summaries.
Planned Time Off: We proposed that time off be allocated equally during all non-prime time weeks, including holiday weeks. This allocation should be based on fully staffed units, not on immediate staffing problems or how individual managers decide to allocate time. We are also seeking to address a problem in which 12-hour nurses have been denied time off for part of their shift because hours are not being properly distributed per shift.
In addition, we are proposing to shorten the prime time period. Right now, prime time is the second Sunday in May to the third Saturday in September. Our proposal would reduce it to Memorial Day through Labor Day. Nurses should be guaranteed a week off during the actual peak vacation season.
Schedules: Our proposal would simplify our scheduling language to ensure full- and part-time nurses are not displaced by per diems, MTMs or travelers and that per diems are not displaced by MTMs or travelers.
Daylight Savings: This proposal places current practice into our contract. Nurses receive 1.5x pay for the extra hour worked during fall back and are paid their full shift during spring forward.
New Hire Orientation: We proposed to adjust our current contract language to better match current practice.
FCU On-Call Update
We had an excellent turnout of FCU nurses at last labor management meeting to discuss mandatory on-call. As we described in a previous bulletin, FCU should not have mandatory on-call because it is a 24/7 service. Nurses shared personal experiences about how the hospital is demoralizing them with its use of on-call. We continue to demand management address this issue and have made a proposal to make on-call voluntary in the FCU.
Dec. 4, 2024
MNA Committee Makes On-Call and Sleep Time Proposals
Join us for Our Next Bargaining Session January 8
We are working to put the remainder of our proposals on the table. Today we delved into addressing problems with the hospital’s on-call system and making improvements to sleep time. We also worked on a comprehensive ETO proposal focused on enhancing time off availability and scheduling. If you have any ideas or questions about any of the topics we bring up in bargaining, please reach out to a member of our bargaining committee.
On-Call
Right now, the hospital is often not paying nurses for times when they have to answer their on-call pager. For example, if a nurse’s on-call shift starts at 7 p.m., the hospital is paging them at 6:30 to tell them to come in at 7 without paying them until 7. This is not appropriate and must be fixed in our contract and Kronos. We also proposed that nurses on call cannot be called in before the start of their on-call shift.
In addition, we proposed that FCU not be subject to on-call because it is a 24/7 service and that weeknight on-call hours for the ASU and PACU be 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. to reflect staffed hours. We will also propose an increase in the on-call differential.
Sleep Time
Our current sleep time contract language says that a nurse on-call who is called in between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. and is scheduled to work the immediately following shift that begins no later than 11 a.m. is eligible for two hours release time. Our proposal would also make the release time pay equal to the number of hours worked between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., but you would receive no less than two hours of paid sleep time. I.E., if you are called in and work 4 hours, you would receive 4 hours of paid sleep time.
Management Proposals, Responses, and Tentative Agreements
- Management proposed updates on tuition reimbursement, and professional certification and recertification reimbursement.
- The hospital wants to be able to release nurses in two-hour increments in addition to the current four-hour increments. They also want to adjust the order in which nurses may be released depending on their status. We have a different perspective on release and will be responding.
- Management made a proposal regarding imposing new requirements on nurses about communicating about their protected leaves or risk the leaves converting to unprotected.
- They gave initial responses to our proposals on vacancies and uniforms and are reviewing our preceptor proposal.
- We reached agreements on MNA proposals regarding contact hours and annual competencies that will take effect when our full contract is settled and ratified.
Nov. 21, 2024
Initial Proposals Exchanged in 2nd Bargaining Session
During our second negotiation session, our first step was finalizing ground rules. This is an agreement between both sides on how bargaining will proceed. For example, our rules speak to having reasonable periods for caucus times between the parties seeing each other at the table. They also include rules about meeting space, the release of MNA committee members, and giving notice before going to the media, among others.
After signing off on ground rules, management put forward proposals related to restricted call, assault pay, and bereavement. We will be evaluating their proposals.
Our initial set of proposals to management included contract language addressing re-assignment and release, reduction in hours, vacancies, attire and appearance, preceptorship, bereavement, contact hours, and making sure required competencies are offered at nurses’ home site. On preceptorship, we made the point that there are many more novice nurses at St. Luke’s requiring training from more experienced nurses. We are seeking greater compensation for nurses who precept, especially in specialty areas, to make sure nurses are incentivized to precept and newer nurses get the training and support they need.
We also spent time developing new proposals. A lot of our focus during caucus was on creating a proposal to address the problems with on-call in FCU. Management is using on-call inappropriately. FCU nurses are almost always called in when they are on call – evidence that this is just a way management is staffing the hospital without hiring more permanent nurses. FCU is a 24/7 service and should not even have on-call. The hospital should staff appropriately instead of relying on this dissatisfying approach. In addition, management is making nurses go into the FCU at 7 a.m. to physically pick their on-call hours on a first-come-first-serve basis. This has created conflict among nurses and incredible frustration.
We believe changing on-call to voluntary in the FCU could address this issue. This would allow nurses to pick up on-call if they want to and receive overtime. We will update you when we present additional proposals.
Tentative Agreements Reached
We reached a tentative agreement (TA) on management’s restricted call proposal to change the hourly rate from $14.25 to match MA minimum wage, as well as a TA on bereavement that now includes the parent and grandparent of nurse’s children and step-siblings. TA’s do not take effect until our full contract is ratified.
