Contract negotiations concluded on September 9, 2010. We were able to reach agreement on non-economic working conditions and a limited number of economic issues, such as some differentials and EL.
We were unable to reach agreement on compensation; health care; PTO accrual rates, maximum accrual amount and shift differential paid on PTO/ESL; holidays; per diem differential; and retirement matching funds. The Hospital has submitted its last, best and final offer on these issues.
The tentative agreement includes the maintenance of the grievance procedure, the RIF procedures, dues deduction, the right to PRN representation and due process, the amount of differentials (except per diem differential), EL, and other working conditions.
PRN recommends the membership vote to accept the tentative agreement.on the non-economic working conditions (and a limited number of economic issues).
This year's negotiations were by far the most difficult PRN has experienced since 1996. We started negotiations in February, took a break between March and June to give ECH the opportunity to clarify their financial situation, and met weekly from June 10th through September 9th. Despite using Interest-Based Bargaining style and having very open and comprehensive discussions and information sharing, PRN and ECH were unable to reach agreement on the most significant issues of compensation and benefits.
Normally, the failure to reach agreement on any part of a contract means there is no agreement on any parts of a contract. In other words, if PRN and ECH could not agree on compensation and benefits then there would be no possible agreement on non-economic issues, such as union representation and the right to the grievance procedure.
We have a tentative agreement on some working conditions on which we were able to agree. In addition, we have the Hospital's last, best and final offer on compensation and benefitts on which we were unable to agree. The membership will need to vote on two (2) issues,. The first issue is the tentative agreement, which PRN recommends you vote to accept. The second issue is the Hospital's last, best and final offer.
What is a "Last, Best and Final Offer"? This is what ECH will impose regardless of the outcome of the PRN membership vote. If the RNs reject the Hospital's last, best and final offer, ECH will unilaterally impose the compensation and benefits as stated in the offer. They will impose the offer on October 31, 2010.
The offer will become the compensation and benefits for the RNs until at least next year when PRN can require ECH to return to the bargaining table.
It is imperative that all members attend one of the presentation meetings to hear about the agreement and the offer. It is also imperative that all members vote on each issue on the ballot.