Indiana Regional Medical Center continues to staff with agency nurses as it makes union nurses wait until Saturday to return to work.
Talks are expected to continue between the Indiana Registered Nurses Association (IRNA) and Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC) following a one-day strike earlier this week.
The registered nurses conducted a one-day strike on Monday, Nov. 26. However, when they went to return on Tuesday, most of the 360 nurses were not on the work schedule.
According to a news release by the hospital, IRMC contracted with replacement nurses to cover the day of the strike. However, the minimum commitment for agency workers is 5 days at a cost of $1.5 million. IRMC took most of the union RNs off the schedule until Saturday, December 1.
IRMC deducted the $1.5 million expense of hiring contracted agency nurses from the hospital’s current offer to cover the expense. However, Bargaining Unit Advocacy Coordinator Annie Brisco pointed out on yesterday’s WTYM radio morning show that lost wages by nurses for the week should have been deducted from agency fees. She said the hospital is inflating the costs while making nurses bear the entire burden.
“The hospital threatened us the week before the strike. The hospital had their administrators there in the room with about 80 of our nurses telling them that if they didn’t rescind the strike notice, IRMC was going to pay the $1.5 million and shave it off the compensation package already offered to the RNs.”
The hospital and nurses return to the bargaining table today. Nurses would like to see a 4% wage increase, but IRMC says they already make more than their regional counterparts and are expecting them to pick up some of insurance costs.
There was no response to requests for an interview with IRMC representatives.