Fresh from a major victory at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where 1199SEIU members will receive pay raises as high as 38 percent during the new contract, the Maryland-DC region has also just won other strong new contracts.1199 members at Greater Baltimore Medical Center won service milestones for the first time ever. For every 10 years of service, they will receive a bonus of one percent of their annual pay. GBMC members also won higher minimum wage rates that will give a big lift to many members. All current workers will make at least $13 an hour by 2017.At the Blue Point Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, members won across-the-board raises of three percent in all three years of their new contract. Members at Northwest Nursing & Rehabilitation Center also won strong across-the-board raises, with 2.5 percent in the first year and 3 percent a year in 2015 and 2016.“Standing together in our union made the difference,“ said Susan Lewis, a geriatric nursing aide at Blue Point. “At a time when workers are struggling, we just won annual raises for the next three years.”In addition to raises for low-paid workers at Hopkins, higher-paid workers like pharmacy techs and surgical techs will also benefit from a new process that lifts their pay if it is below market rates.Hopkins workers also turned back take-backs, such as how they are compensated for paid time off and maintained strong limits on healthcare costs.- See more at: http://www.1199seiu.org/following_hopkins_victory_maryland_1199ers_win_more#sthash.9xKsUmeS.dpuf