Providence Nurses To Vote On Contract Offer?

There appears to be a pending development in the year-long contract dispute between Providence Centralia Hospital and United Staff Nurses Union Local 141.

Providence Centralia Hospital Public Relations Director Chris Thomas said this morning that the nurses union, which represents about 150 Providence RNs, will likely be voting on whether or not to approve a contract offer tonight. Both the union and management have indicated that progress was made during negotiations with a federal mediator two weeks ago, though both sides were mum on details.

Last month, the nurses voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike, but the hospital has not yet been served a 10-day notice required by the National Labor Relations Act. The two sides have been deadlocked on a new contract since before the old one expired in June of last year.

The last offer put forth by management called for a pay increase ranging from 12 percent to 14.5 percent over the life of the three-year contract, in addition to the existing step increase of 2 percent to 4 percent, according to a release from the hospital.

Union representative John Aslakson said recently that the union has been successful in getting many of the benefits that were excluded from early offers back into the contract, but many issues remain unresolved. According to nurses and union representatives, those issues included retroactive pay to compensate nurses for the time spent in negotiations, wages for senior nurses, and additional benefits.

Look for additional developments in tomorrow’s Chronicle.