Milford Nurses Approve First Contract After 2021 Unionization Effort

MILFORD, MA — Nurses working at the Milford Regional Medical Center voted Wednesday to adopt their first union contract with the hospital, which will mean pay and staffing increases.

The nurses voted in February 2021 to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association union, and soon after began negotiating with the hospital over a contract. The MNA represents over 500 nurses at the hospital.

According to the MNA, the first contract includes 8-1/2 percent raises for all nurses, plus a guarantee of annual raises of about 4 percent. The contract also deems that supervisory nurses will not necessarily have to tend to patients in addition to management duties. There will also be nurse educators on hand during afternoon and overnight hours.

"This contract values our dedication to patient care and will help us provide the conditions to recruit and retain the nurses we need," Milford Regional nurse and bargaining committee member Sara Burton said in a news release.

Milford Regional spokeswoman Tricia Oliver lauded the contract ratification, saying it will help the hospital attract and retain high quality workers.

"We appreciate the work of all of the participants in the negotiation process, who were consistently professional, collaborative, and mutually committed to reaching a fair, sustainable agreement," she said.

The Milford nurses began their unionization effort during the pandemic, saying hospital managers did not put in place coronavirus safety measures they had asked for. The nurses filed to form a union in December 2020.