Health Care for All

First contract between 1199SEIU members and Steward Health Care will ensure pay raises and sustainable benefits for 170 workers at Nashoba Valley Medical Center

Ayer, MA (August 4, 2015) – 170 health care workers at Nashoba Valley Medical Center who voted to form a union with 1199SEIU in January 2015 are slated to receive a pay increase and other benefit enhancements as part of a new union contract agreement reached with Steward Health Care.

The agreement at Nashoba Valley Medical Center will include a three percent wage increase, more predictability and stability with scheduling, improved overtime and vacation pay, and access to college tuition and training benefits through the 1199SEIU Training & Upgrading Fund.

The new contract will take effect upon ratification by 1199SEIU members, who are scheduled to vote on the contract next week.

“Today marks an important step forward for workers at Nashoba Valley Medical Center,” said Susan Boggs-Lightfoot, an administrative assistant who has worked at the hospital for 10 years. “We voted to form our union with 1199SEIU to achieve stability and security at work and this contract is helping to make those goals a reality. We are so proud to provide quality care to our communities and we are glad that our commitment and dedication is being recognized by Steward through this agreement.”

“1199SEIU members at Nashoba have made incredible progress through these negotiations, and it’s very exciting to work with Steward to achieve a sustainable agreement that will help strengthen jobs and care at the hospital both now and in the future,” said Veronica Turner, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.

The 170 Nashoba Valley workers, who are members of 1199SEIU and include medical assistants, receptionists, clerical staff, and facility technicians, will also have a more affordable health insurance plan under the contract. Workers cited access to the 1199SEIU Training and Upgrading Fund as a key part of the contract victory.

Founded in 2006, the 1199SEIU Training and Upgrading Fund is a joint labor-management partnership between 1199SEIU and local participating health providers that has helped thousands of workers to enroll in post-secondary certificate or degree programs.

Nashoba Valley workers will join workers from across the Steward system to renegotiate a system-wide contract and a series of hospital specific agreements next year.

Nashoba Valley Medical Center, a part of the Steward Health Care system, is a 73-bed facility serving Central Northern Massachusetts. It employs approximately 500-600 people. Previously, workers at seven other facilities currently operated by Steward Health Care have voted to join 1199SEIU and have successfully negotiated a range of improvements to jobs within the state’s largest network of community hospitals. Those facilities include: St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center; Norwood Hospital; Morton Hospital; Merrimack Valley Hospital; Holy Family Hospital; Good Samaritan Medical Center; and Carney Hospital.

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Representing more than 52,000 healthcare workers throughout Massachusetts and nearly 450,000 workers across the East Coast, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. Our mission is to achieve affordable, high quality healthcare for all. 1199SEIU is part of the 2.1 million member Service Employees International Union.

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