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September 18, 2007
V.I. Nurses Association members ratify new three-year contract with Virgin Islands government; Pact aims to curb severe nursing shortage The Virgin Islands Government has successfully concluded negotiations with the V.I. State Nurses Association towards a new contract for more than 220 registered nurses currently employed with the territorial hospitals, Myrah Keating Smith Health Clinic on St. John and the Department of Health. The agreement, which represents changes in both language and wages, was ratified by the union on July 10, less than a month after the negotiations ended. Chief Labor Negotiator Jessica Gallivan said Tuesday that negotiations commenced on May 23 and concluded on June 20. "The focus of the talks was on improving working conditions for nurses and addressing the critical shortage of nurses at the territory’s health care facilities." The last registered nurses contract was negotiated in 2001 and expired two years later before being extended on a day-to-day basis. As a result, some nurses had not seen salary increases for more than six years, Gallivan said. In the last administration, negotiations were commenced but were suspended for no apparent reason. Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr. said he was pleased that an agreement was reached between the V.I. State Nurses Association and the government. "My administration had received information prior to the negotiations that one hospital was spending more than $7 million a year for traveling nurses and that critical care nurses with specialties were in particular short supply. The new salary levels put the territory on a more equal footing in its bid to attract off island nurses to work at our health care facilities." DeJongh also acknowledged the work and guidance of the territorial hospitals in the process towards a new contract with the V.I. State Nurses Association. The new contract term is three years, from October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2009. During the negotiations, Gallivan said, the nurses union waived the right to negotiate for any salary increases for the period October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2006. "The entry level for a registered nurse has been increased from $35,000 to $45,000. In Fiscal Year 2008, the starting salary will move to $45,900, making V.I. salaries very competitive with most other U.S. jurisdictions." In addition, nurses with a Bachelor of Science or Arts degree in nursing will receive an additional $2,000 educational differential and $1,250 for certification in their respective area of practice. Specialty nurses such as mid-wives, nurse anesthetists, and nurse practitioners saw increases to their specialty differentials, which run from $15,000 to $35,000, for a nurse anesthetist with a Masters Degree in nursing. Gallivan explained that the base salary range for registered nurses in the territory in Fiscal year 2007 is $45,000 with no experience to $65,500 with more than 20 years experience. Under terms of the contract, those figures will adjust in the FY 2008 to $45,900 and $67,881 respectively and in FY 2009 to $46,818 and $69,239 respectively. The base salary does not include any nursing differentials but encompasses head nurses and other nursing supervisors. "There is a consistent effort underway to train our nursing students and to develop programs which would have both RN’s and LPN’s provided with an attractive salary and benefits package consistent with their level of training and certification." Another key element among the language agreements in the new contract was the establishment of a professional practice committee, made up of both nursing administrators and registered nurses. "The committee will foster increased staff participation and unit representation, discuss educational and staff development needs, develop recruitment and retention programs, discuss health and safety issues affecting the workplace, cost savings measures as well as compliance with nursing standards," Gallivan said. The parties also saw major changes to their grievance and arbitration structure which should more efficiently address any labor issues or disputes that arise during the life of the agreement. The Office of Collective Bargaining used a variety of sources to develop the salary proposals but relied heavily on a nursing salary survey found at Nursing2006.com. "That survey reported an annual average income for nurses in 2006 of $47,200. This number changed depending on such factors as hospital size or location. Nurse managers reported an average salary of $62,800, advanced practice nurses of $69,600," Gallivan said. She said the national average starting salary in 2006 was reported in the survey at $42,848, making it extremely difficult for Virgin Islands health care facilities to attract nurses from the U.S. mainland with a starting salary of $35,000 coupled by the territory’s above-average cost of living. The total cost of the contract for the V.I. State Nurses Association is $2.3 million in Fiscal Year 2007; $401,143 in Fiscal Year 2008 and $377,760 in Fiscal Year 2009. |
