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Nurses at Mercy Medical Center voted Monday to ratify their first union contract with the Roseburg hospital.
Between 160 and 170 nurses cast ballots, with 96 percent approving the contract. Mercy employs 344 nurses overall.
“It was a marvelous response and a wonderful affirmation for the amount of understanding and cooperation. I am hoping we have formed a partnership for future relationships (with the hospital),” said Bonnie Wallace, a registered nurse at Mercy. “They made an intelligent choice.
“The nurses who came to vote were extraordinarily informed,” she said. “Each of them had read the contract. It was over 60 pages.”
She said they came with questions on the contract and they wanted to fully understand it.
“The nurses were extraordinarily impressed with the amount of issues that were addressed and that were placed into the contract,” she said.
All the nurses had the opportunity to vote, said Paul Goldberg from the Oregon Nurses Association. He said that for a ratification vote, a 50 percent turnout is high.
Details of the contract will not be revealed until it is approved by both sides.
Kathleen Ross, a nurse at Mercy, chose not to vote. She said she didn’t think it would make a difference. She’s read the contract, however, and thinks it is good.
“I hope that life can move on and I hope that everyone can work together for the good of the patients,” she said. “I think bottom line, that is what it is about. I’m really glad that everyone could reach a negotiation and we can all move on with our lives now.”
The hospital board of directors will vote on the contract Thursday. The hospital is recommending that the board ratify the contract, and all parties are optimistic that it will pass.
“I think we’re just looking forward to having this settled and working with the hospital on the implementation of the contract,” Goldberg said. “There is a lot of work to get everything in place.”
He says that neither party is familiar working with a contract and they need to be educated about it.
They have to figure out when the economic issues will be implemented, as well as the grievance process. There needs to be coordination between the various activities that have been agreed upon, he said, continuing that staff levels and nurse practice issues need to be related.
“The key is just communicating what would work best,” Goldberg said.
The Mercy nurses voted to form a union about 1 1/2 years ago and have had more than 40 negotiation sessions since then to reach this contract.
Wallace is excited about the next step after the contract.
“I am personally extraordinarily enthusiastic about building a working relationship with the hospital and to continue to provide excellent care for our patients, which help to retain and recruit nurses to this wonderful community,” she said. “We have a lot of work ahead to implement our contract, but this is a great first step.”
• You can reach reporting intern John Givot at 957-4208 or by e-mail at jgivot@newsreview.info.
Between 160 and 170 nurses cast ballots, with 96 percent approving the contract. Mercy employs 344 nurses overall.
“It was a marvelous response and a wonderful affirmation for the amount of understanding and cooperation. I am hoping we have formed a partnership for future relationships (with the hospital),” said Bonnie Wallace, a registered nurse at Mercy. “They made an intelligent choice.
“The nurses who came to vote were extraordinarily informed,” she said. “Each of them had read the contract. It was over 60 pages.”
She said they came with questions on the contract and they wanted to fully understand it.
“The nurses were extraordinarily impressed with the amount of issues that were addressed and that were placed into the contract,” she said.
All the nurses had the opportunity to vote, said Paul Goldberg from the Oregon Nurses Association. He said that for a ratification vote, a 50 percent turnout is high.
Details of the contract will not be revealed until it is approved by both sides.
Kathleen Ross, a nurse at Mercy, chose not to vote. She said she didn’t think it would make a difference. She’s read the contract, however, and thinks it is good.
“I hope that life can move on and I hope that everyone can work together for the good of the patients,” she said. “I think bottom line, that is what it is about. I’m really glad that everyone could reach a negotiation and we can all move on with our lives now.”
The hospital board of directors will vote on the contract Thursday. The hospital is recommending that the board ratify the contract, and all parties are optimistic that it will pass.
“I think we’re just looking forward to having this settled and working with the hospital on the implementation of the contract,” Goldberg said. “There is a lot of work to get everything in place.”
He says that neither party is familiar working with a contract and they need to be educated about it.
They have to figure out when the economic issues will be implemented, as well as the grievance process. There needs to be coordination between the various activities that have been agreed upon, he said, continuing that staff levels and nurse practice issues need to be related.
“The key is just communicating what would work best,” Goldberg said.
The Mercy nurses voted to form a union about 1 1/2 years ago and have had more than 40 negotiation sessions since then to reach this contract.
Wallace is excited about the next step after the contract.
“I am personally extraordinarily enthusiastic about building a working relationship with the hospital and to continue to provide excellent care for our patients, which help to retain and recruit nurses to this wonderful community,” she said. “We have a lot of work ahead to implement our contract, but this is a great first step.”
• You can reach reporting intern John Givot at 957-4208 or by e-mail at jgivot@newsreview.info.
