Contact: David Perlove, Labor Representative
Michigan Nurses Association
906/226-2701
dave.perlove@minurses.org
or
Carol Feuss, Director of Communication
Michigan Nurses Association
517/349-5640, ext. 39 or (cell) 517/230-4086
carol.feuss@minurses.org
September 23, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WAGE, BENEFIT IMPROVEMENTS IN STORE FOR
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES
Ontonagon, MI – Western Upper Peninsular
District Health Department Registered Nurses, represented
by the Michigan Nurses Association, ratified a new
three-year contract last night. The RNs gathered
at the Eagle’s Club to review the terms of
the contract settlement reached on September 6,
and to vote on the agreement.
First year wage increases ranging from 7% to 9%
will become effective on October 1. Additional 3%
increases will follow in the second and third years
of the three-year contract.
In addition to wage improvements, the Pension Plan
will be improved. In one example, a nurse that has
20 years of service is projected to receive $352
more per month at age 60. Department contributions
into deferred compensation accounts will increase
from the current $10 per month to $50, $60, and
$70 per month “stepped up” over the
contract term. A new defined contribution plan is
being installed for new hires and current pension
plan participants who may wish to switch. The Department
has agreed to contribute up to 5% of wages into
the new plan.
Other features of the new agreement include counting
holidays, sick days, and funeral days as time worked
for overtime, an increase in payments to nurses
not taking health insurance from $1,000 to $1,800
per year, new health insurance plan options, and
the incorporation of a “Temporary Staff Shortage
Differential” into the contract. The staff
shortage differential provides a premium for RNs
who need to cover for staff shortages occurring
at Health Department office locations away from
regularly assigned locations.
Maureen Salo, RN bargaining committee member commented
that the counting of Holidays, Sick Days and Funeral
Days for overtime is important because “so
much work piles up when we must take time off that
we usually have to work longer days to make up for
it. Full-time nurses will now have the opportunity
to receive overtime for making up that work.”
Cindy Zimmerman, RN, who also served on the bargaining
committee, was pleased to see improvements in the
Pension programs because “more and more RNs
are nearing retirement age.”
Dave Perlove, the region’s MNA Labor Relations
Representative, noted that “the health department
agreed that they needed to improve wages to make
them more competitive in the market.”
The Western Upper Peninsula District Public Health
RN team consists of approximately 20 members providing
community, clinic and home health services.
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The Michigan Nurses
Association, nurses’ voice for 100 years,
is the largest nurses’ union in the State
of Michigan. The Michigan Nurses Association (MNA)
promotes the economic and general welfare of nurses
in the workplace, fosters high standards of nursing
practice, and lobbies the legislature and regulatory
agencies on health care issues affecting nurses
and recipients of nursing services. MNA is a constituent
member of the American Nurses Association and
the United American Nurses, as well as an affiliate
of the AFL-CIO.
