Tentative Agreement Reached At St. Charles Hospital, Avoiding Strike

PORT JEFFERSON, NY — A tentative agreement between Catholic Health Services officials at St. Charles Hospital and the New York State Nurses Association union was reached late Saturday night to avoid a strike, officials said.

The union had been in negotiations since their contract expired on March 31, and in that time, members had aired claims concerns unsafe staffing levels, before finally overwhelmingly agreeing to vote to authorize a strike last week, according to the union.

The nurses could have delivered a 10-day notice before going out on strike, according to the union.

The tentative agreement includes "significant gains for nurses," such as set nurse-to-patient staffing ratios to improve patient safety, expedited staffing enforcement language, an average wage increase of 20.5 percent over the course of the three-year contract, union officials said.

Other contract highlights include Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day as premium holidays, improved retiree health benefits, increased education benefits, and float incentive pay.

The contract ratification vote will take place on Tuesday.

St. Charles Hospital unit President Rob Barone said, "From the beginning, we made it clear this was a fight for patient safety. This agreement will not only improve staffing ratios, it will empower nurses to enforce safe staffing for our patients and provide us with the respectful wages and benefits we deserve. I’m proud of our committee and St. Charles nurses for fighting for and winning a contract that will ensure quality care for our patients and our community.”

Nurse Kim Bowman said that "the bargaining committee and hospital administration worked through the weekend to arrive at an agreement that will ensure quality patient care at St. Charles."

“Our fight was always about the health of our Port Jefferson community and now we can proudly return to the bedside knowing we achieved a victory for nurses and for our patients," she said.

Union President Nancy Hagans said that Long Island nurses "are on a roll" and she is "extremely proud of St. Charles nurses for standing firm in their goal of obtaining a contract that improves staffing standards for patients."

"Their victory is well deserved and will improve standards of care for patients as well as working conditions for nurses," she said.

A St. Charles Hospital spokesperson said the administration was "pleased to have reached a tentative agreement that reflects the hospital’s commitment to our nurses."

"The tentative agreement ensures that our nurses continue to be supported with competitive salary increases and staffing improvements," the statement read. "Our nurses are vital to ensuring the communities we serve have access to the highest levels of care, and we are grateful for their dedication to our patients.”

Last week's voting took place Tuesday to Thursday, with a voter turnout of around 99 percent.

Over a third of the entire nursing staff marched to deliver a petition to President James O’Connor protesting management’s rejection of nearly all union proposals while failing to give an initial response on the key issue of safe staffing, the union said.

In February, Nurses at Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside voted to join the union, and then nurses at Northwell Health’s South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore voted to approve a new contract that raised their salaries nearly 19 percent, and won an expedited arbitration of staffing disputes three days before they were set to strike.

In April, St. Joseph’s Hospital of Catholic Health Services settled a contract with increased wages and staffing wins for nurses.