Late Wednesday night, 30 hours before a strike is scheduled to begin at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, the hospital, along with Kenmore Mercy Hospital and St. Joseph Campus, presented a $31 million, comprehensive economic package to CWA. The offer would bring the total value of the six contracts covering registered nurses and service, technical and clerical associates to more than $240 million.
“We recognize and respect that our nurses and other healthcare workers are frustrated and fatigued as we continue to work through the COVID-19 pandemic,” said JoAnn Cavanaugh. “We strongly believe the contract provisions we have presented are fair, provide market-competitive wages and benefits, and address staffing concerns.”
The table below outlines what the hospitals proposed to the union.
| Topic | Catholic Health Hospitals’ Proposal | |||||||||
| WAGES | Contract Year 1 |
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| Contract Year 2 | 2.0% General Wage Increase (GWI) | |||||||||
| Contract Year 3 | 2.0% GWI | |||||||||
| Contract Year 4 | 2.5% GWI | |||||||||
| HEALTH PLAN BENEFITS |
Most current associates’ health insurance premiums will remain unchanged. |
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| RETIREMENT BENEFITS |
Associates’ pension plans will remain unchanged. |
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| PTO | Maintain current Paid Time Off (PTO) accrual levels for all associates. | |||||||||
| STAFFING |
The hospitals proposed, among other provisions:
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“A rising tide of Mercy Hospital associates are sharing that they don’t want to go on strike,” Cavanaugh said. “The hospitals have a made a good faith effort to provide a fair contract with competitive wages and benefits and to avert a strike.”
The union has the ability to withdraw its 10-day strike notice before its planned strike begins tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.
