PORTLAND, Maine — Union nurses at Maine Medical Center have reached an agreement with the hospital on paid leave and other benefits.
The announcement comes after the hospital confirmed in December 2022 union nurses lost benefits, including paid leave for bereavement, jury duty, and military service.
MMC said in December the benefits were lost because it was not included in contract negotiations and required an amendment to be reinstated.
The nurses are part of the Maine State Nurses Association, and the union's contract with Maine Medical Center went into effect on Sept. 22, 2022.
A Maine State Nurses Association news release said in December no other employees at MMC lost the benefits the union nurses did, and an MMC spokesperson confirmed it.
The spokesperson did say, however, that if a proposal to keep the paid benefits was made during contract negotiations, MMC would've considered keeping the benefits and bargained over it "in good faith."
Maine Medical Center and the union representing the nurses reached an agreement Friday to "amend their existing collective bargaining agreement to include a variety of paid leaves that were not addressed during contract negotiations last year," a news release from MMC said.
The paid leave benefits will be retroactive to December 2022, MMC said, meaning nurses who have previously used personal time off, or had to go unpaid to cover leaves, will be "made whole."
"We are pleased to reach this agreement with union representatives to amend our contract," MMC Chief Nursing Officer Devin Carr said in the release. "Coming together at the table to build on our success achieved during contract negotiations to address contract concerns is critically important, particularly as we are just beginning to administer our first contract."
MMC said the amendment includes paid jury duty, bereavement, parental, witness, and military leaves.
"Additionally, the agreement calls for making official some additional pay practices for specific nursing roles and adds some specific scheduling 'perks-- benefits for nurses with established seniority--to be consistent across units," the release stated.