The president and CEO of Albany Med Health System called on nurses to accept its “last, best and final offer” for a new contract.

“I am confident that our contract proposal is an excellent one. It respects our nurses for their expertise, for their compassion and very importantly, their induvial rights,” said Dr. Dennis McKenna.

The nurses have been without a contract for about six months.

McKenna outlined some details of the proposal including increases to hourly wages and increased reimbursement for training. 

For example, the starting wage for a newly licensed nurse would increase from $33 per hour to $37.50 and to $39.50 or the next two years. The average base salary for an RN would increase by 13% in the first year and ranges from 25% to 34% over the next three years.

Other details include increased pay for charge nurses, and more pay for nurses who train other nurses and who work difficult-to-fill shifts.  There will also be increased reimbursement for tuition and continuing education.

If accepted, the contract would also have retroactive pay to Aug. 1.

However, McKenna said that provision will go away if the deal is not accepted by Monday at 5 p.m.

McKenna said it is time to move forward, and he cautioned that the hospital faces fiscal challenges including contract negotiations with insurance providers. CDPHD owes the hospital around $50 million in claims. 

He believes that this proposal is fair to all employees, is fiscally responsible and focused on patient care.

One sticking point, according to McKenna, is that nurses are not required to be part of the union to work for the hospital. The union is forcing that change, and McKenna said nurses he talks to are happy with the status quo.

“That is simply not fair to our nurses. Today, the majority of our nurses do not pay dues. Not all nurses want to pay dues. Nurses should not have to sacrifice their hard-earned money for the right to hold a professional position here at Albany Med,” he said.

The New York State Nurses Association blasted the contract proposal as an attempt to “avoid accountability” and “silence nurses” expressing concern about what they see is unsafe staffing at the hospital.

The union took issue with McKenna’s claim that hospital staffing levels are safe. The union said the hospital is eliminating 14 positions at the South Clinical campus. The hospital maintains that those 14 positions there will not be eliminated, but reabsorbed into the main campus.

Also, the union said that nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit are often asked to take care of double or triple the number of babies for which they can safely care

“We’ve watched as McKenna wastes thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours on avoiding the real problem: unsafe staffing that harms patient care. While nurses are understaffed and leaving because they don’t want to put their licenses at risk, McKenna sues his own nurses because he is so upset about bad publicity, and ultimately, the truth. I am continually inspired by the nurses who refuse to keep their heads down and who speak out about patient care while managing the burdens of understaffing,” said NYSNA President Nancy Hagans in a statement.

The hospital had filed a lawsuit accused the using of violating the hospital’s trademark on a website they started to inform people about issues at the hospital.   The union also has expressed concern about disciplinary actions against nurses who have spoken out about the issues.

Here more about why the nurses do not believe this is a good offer by watching video of Tessa Bentulan’s story.