March 29 Session

Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday, Saturday, March 29, the parties met for another full day and continued making progress towards reaching an agreement. Highlights include:

• CRONA returned a comprehensive package response that narrowed gaps on Relief Nurse Differential, Weekend Staffing and Immigration Enforcement.
  
  
• The parties reached an agreement in concept on the continuation of the Student Loan Repayment Side Letter.
  
  
• Our team, in an effort to be responsive and timely, continued to work after hours and sent a package proposal via email to CRONA’s lead negotiator. Our response showcased additional improvements on three issues that CRONA has indicated are key for them, and is contingent on CRONA moving off of their Staff Reductions & Layoff (Cancellation) proposal:
  
  
  • Schedule Posting: Agree to CRONA’s language to increase schedule posting time from two weeks to three weeks prior to the beginning of the next schedule.
    • Additionally, nurses designated as “Rotator” nurses and working in non-inpatient areas will not be required to switch between day and night shifts any more frequently than after a full two-week pay period.
      
      
  • Remote Work: Agree that the hospitals’ policies addressing remote and hybrid work, including the policy titled “Remote Work” will apply to CRONA-represented nurses.
    
    
  • PTO Usage: To enhance greater schedule flexibility for nurses, the hospitals agree to permit nurses the ability to have another nurse work for them while using unpaid time if the nurses’ PTO bank is depleted.
    
    
• We look forward to continuing our momentum and making additional progress during today’s session.
  
  

Thank you for your dedication and please stay tuned!