Westchester Medical Center nurses ratify contract

Nurses at Westchester Medical Center have ratified a new contract after six years of negotiations.

Nurses represented by New York State Nurses Association approved the new contract overwhelmingly, according to a joint press release issued by the union and hospital, but the actual vote was not disclosed.

The contract covers about 1,500 nurses.

The press release says the deal resolves salary and benefit issues but it does not describe the details.

The contract is retroactive to April 1, 2011, when the previous agreement ended, and runs through December 2021.

The union has staged rallies, bought billboard space near the hospital, submitted a “hands off our benefits” petition and organized a political action committee to put pressure on the hospital during negotiations.

Under the previous contract, ending in March 2011, base pay ranged from $64,901 to $80,483, depending on the type of work. The base pay increased for every year of experience, and at 25 years the pay ranged from $110,307 to $125,889.

Westchester Medical Center is an 895-bed academic hospital in Valhalla and is the primary referral center for other hospitals in the Hudson Valley.