Niagara County – After 4 months of contract talks and an intense 19-hour long negotiating session that began yesterday, 1199SEIU reached a 4-year tentative agreement for more than 400 Catholic Health workers at Mount St Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston and Lockport Memorial Hospital in Lockport.  Contract talks began for this new labor deal in mid-January.

 

Hospital workers at both hospitals are represented by 1199SEIU, the largest healthcare workers union in the country.

 

Niagara County hospital workers at each facility were fighting for competitive benefits including pension and wage increases to help improve staffing levels.

 

“We worked together to identify and to discuss what workers needed at both sites. After 19 continuous hours at the bargaining table, we reached an agreement we believe benefits all union members at both hospitals,” said Linda Carr, union delegate and Service and Maintenance worker at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital for 38 years.

 

The last contract covering workers at both Niagara County Catholic Health hospitals originally expired in March but both the union and hospital management agreed to extensions.

 

A ratification vote will be scheduled in the coming days.  If ratified by union hospital workers, details of the agreement will be made public.

 

Caregivers at both Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston and Lockport Memorial Hospital work as Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Technicians, and Service and Maintenance workers which include dietary and housekeeping.

 

While Catholic Health’s two hospitals have wrapped up contract talks, the focus now turns to their nursing homes.  Bargaining for nearly 300 union nursing home workers at Catholic Health’s McAuley Residence and St. Catherine’s Laboure started last week and resumes Tuesday.  

 

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1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. We represent over 400,000 nurses and caregivers throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.
https://www.1199seiu.org