ALMOST 500 RNS FROM BUTLER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL RATIFY A NEW UNION CONTRACT THAT WILL FURTHER PROTECT THEIR PATIENT COMMUNITY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: MEGAN OTHERSEN GORMAN / 215.817.5781 / MGORMAN@PASNAP.COM

MAY 12, 2025

LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER AUTHORIZING A STRIKE, THE ALMOST 500 RNS FROM BUTLER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL RATIFY A NEW UNION CONTRACT THAT WILL FURTHER PROTECT THEIR PATIENT COMMUNITY

NURSE SAFETY, SECURITY, AND RETENTION – AND, THEREFORE, CARE FOR THE BUTLER COMMUNITY – WERE THE NURSES’ PRIMARY FOCUS THROUGHOUT NEGOTIATIONS

We knew when we came to the bargaining table that we needed, for the sake of our patient community, to do everything we could to retain our experienced nurses with meaningful protections from workplace violence and a contract that respects the expertise we bring to the bedside and the essential role we play in patient care

BUTLER, PA – On the final day of National Nurses Week, 500 nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital ratified a new 3-year contract that meaningfully benefits both the caregivers and their patients – their guiding principle throughout the bargaining process – by ensuring Butler nurses have the respect and protection they need to stay on the job and provide safe and exceptional care to the Butler community.

The vote for the nurses’ new 3-year contract, completed today at 9 p.m., was solidly in favor of ratification. 80% of nurses voted YES.

Fittingly, today is the 205th birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale transformed nursing from an untrained, undervalued profession into a respected and scientifically-based field, establishing a training school in London that set the standard for nursing education. 

“Highly skilled, experienced nurses are the backbone of health care,” says longtime ICU nurse Tammy May, RN, president of Pennsylvania Independent Nurses, the PASNAP Local at Butler. “We bring to the bedside not only knowledge, but intuition, leadership, and the calm assurance that comes from years on the front lines of patient care.”

We knew when we came to the bargaining table that we needed, for the sake of our patient community, to do everything we could to retain our experienced nurses with meaningful protections from workplace violence and a contract that respects the expertise we bring to the bedside and the essential role we play in patient care, says May.

At the core of the nurses’ concerns during negotiations, their first since Excela Health and Butler Health System merged on January 1, 2023, to form Independence Health System, were critical quality of care issues like protections for both nurses and respect for the work they do – a “healing mission” for the Butler patient community.

The nurses’ new 3-year contract is a direct reflection of these goals. Included are:

• Critical measures to increase the safety of Butler staff. As incidents of workplace violence have escalated at Butler, the nurses pushed for increased safety measures in negotiations, holding a massive informational picket on March 28th with the theme “Respect and Protect”. In their new contract, they won significant safety improvements, including at least one new metal detector to be maintained and staffed by the hospital; improved training and management of security staff; additional security guard in the Emergency Department; and financial support for nurses who are victims of workplace violence.
• Improved staffing, including more Emergency Department RNs. Workplace violence and unsafe staffing are intertwined. Low staffing numbers raise the stress levels of both patients and staff. If a healthcare worker isn’t available to meet an agitated patient’s needs, the patient’s agitation accelerates, and physical violence can result and frequently does. This is especially true in the Emergency Department. Added staff there will improve care and help protect not just nurses but all Emergency Department staff and even patients from workplace violence.
• Enhanced scheduling practices to improve planning and support the retention of experienced nurses. Includes the implementation of a financial penalty for involuntary schedule changes occurring more than three times annually.
• Competitive wages, a competitive benefits package PLUS the protection of the nurses’ pensions, which should go a long way toward retaining experienced nurses. In addition, the nurses won the guarantee of better communication regarding benefits, insurance repayments, and leaves of absence. 

“High-quality care for our patients is of the utmost importance to every nurse here,” says May. “It’s at the heart of everything we do, whether it’s at the bedside or the bargaining table.”

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The Pennsylvania Independent Nurses Association is an affiliate of PASNAP, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents 11,000-plus frontline nurses and healthcare professionals across Pennsylvania and was founded 25 years ago on the belief that patients receive the best care when clinical-care staff have a strong voice to advocate for their patients and themselves.