BMH Nurses Union Agrees to Contract Extension

May 3, 2007 - (BUTLER, PA) - In a vote yesterday, members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) at Butler Memorial Hospital have agreed to a three-year extension of their current contract.

The agreement is early, since the nurses’ contract was not due to expire until April 15, 2008. The extension will carry the contract to April 16, 2011.

“We’re extremely pleased that our nurses have accepted a contract extension,” said Ken DeFurio, President and CEO of BMH. “Our relationship with our nurses’ union is extremely important and has continued to develop for the good of our hospital and our patients. We look forward now to working together to develop a new hospital that will benefit our patients, our nurses, staff and the entire community.”

Key components of the contract extension include:

• A ratification bonus of $300 per nurse payable in May
• Wage increases of:
  • 5% on April 16, 2008
  • 4% on April 16, 2009
  • 5% on April 16, 2010
• Very reasonable limited increases to healthcare insurance premiums
• Increase in shift, weekend and on-call differentials

The contract extension was ratified by the PASNAP membership with 82% of those voting in favor.

PASNAP represents 330 nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital.