Registered nurses and nurse practitioners will
vote to ratify a June 18 agreement
aimed at helping DFCI recruit and retain the nurses needed to
provide world-class cancer care
BOSTON, June 19,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The almost 800 registered nurses
and nurse practitioners at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI),
represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), have
reached a tentative contract agreement (TA) that provides
market-leading investments in nurses, enabling DFCI to retain
experienced nurses and recruit the nurses necessary to delivering
exceptional cancer care and conducting innovative research.
"Dana-Farber nurses are united in securing the resources we need
to provide high-quality care, and it shows in this tremendous
contract settlement," said Stephen
Laughlin, RN, MNA Chair at DFCI. "Our patients deserve
the best nursing care. This agreement will help us maintain our top
of the market status and allow Dana
Farber to recruit and retain top nurses who provide cutting
edge cancer treatments."
DFCI nurses began negotiating a new contract in November 2023. Their new two-year contract covers
January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2025. The TA will need to be
ratified by a vote of the DFCI MNA nurses.
Tentative Agreement Highlights
- Wage Increases: To keep up with a competitive nurse
market and complex patient care challenges, DFCI agreed to provide
a 9% raise to all nurses in the first year of the contract,
including retroactive pay. Nurses will receive a 3% increase in
year two with a new partial top step created that is 3% above the
current top wage scale step.
- Attracting Newer Nurses: DFCI agreed to drop the
current bottom wage scale step of the contract, raising the rate
for newer nurses and making the institute more competitive in this
recruitment area.
- On-Call Improvement: The on-call pay rate will
increase to the state's minimum wage (currently $15/hour). Historically, at DFCI and elsewhere
on-call hourly rates have been much lower than the minimum wage and
regular pay, burdening nurses who face demanding on-call
responsibilities amid an increasing need for expert nursing care.
- Grievance Enhancement: Nurses will now be able to
file collective grievances when confronting violations of their
contract. Previously, only individual grievances were allowed. DFCI
nurses will be able to join together while seeking resolution of
violations in which they are similarly affected.
- Seniority Scheduling: DFCI nurses negotiated
scheduling by seniority into their contract to ensure a fair
application of scheduling by management across hospital units.
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____________________________________________
Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the
largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. Its 25,000 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.
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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association