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Brown Urges ValleyCare to Settle with Nurses
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, released a letter Monday he has written to Kirk Ray, CEO of Northside Medical Center and ValleyCare Health System of Ohio, that urges hospital negotiators “to work towards a fair and equitable agreement with more than 400 of its nurses who have been without a contract since July 19, 2012.”
Brown's letter follows informational picketing Saturday outside the hospital by members of the Ohio Nurses Association. Members of the senator's staff recently met with ONA representatives, he wrote Ray, “and listened to their deep concerns about their jobs, the quality of care at the hospital, and the health of the entire Youngstown community.”
In his letter, Brown stated, “I stand ready to help both sides reach a fair resolution to this matter.”
Asked by The Business Journal for ValleyCare’s response to Brown’s letter, spokeswoman Trish Hrina emailed this statement:
Since the early part of 2012, Northside Medical Center has bargained in good faith, meeting with the Ohio Nurses Association for face-to-face meetings on more than 20 different occasions. Our negotiations are presently being conducted through a federal mediator who manages the schedule and scope. Northside Medical Center’s final offer includes a 2.5 percent wage increase for all of the hospital’s RNs as well as a comprehensive medical benefit plan and processes for staffing the hospital according to the volume and needs of patients in our care. Five of six collective bargaining units at ValleyCare hospitals have overwhelmingly ratified contracts which mirror these terms; represented employees include registered nurses, service, technical, maintenance and professional workers. We remain committed to the collective bargaining process and to maintaining a positive relationship with our employees and their bargaining agents.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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