(THREE RIVERS) – Registered nurses at Three Rivers Health-Beacon Health System have ratified a new contract.

The 75 nurses at Three Rivers Health-Beacon Health System voted June 24 to approve the tentative new contract. The previous contract for the nurses, who are members of the Michigan Nurses Association, had expired on March 31.

On May 18, nurses and community members held a rally and informational picket to let the Three Rivers area know their contract had expired, and negotiations up to that point, did not result in a new contract.

Brandy Shoup, an ER nurse and President of the local nurses union says they are pleased to have achieved a strong contract that will make Three Rivers Health a better and safer place. She says through their solidarity and with community support, the nurses made it clear that Beacon Health must invest in Three Rivers.

The new three year contract includes: Wage increases of an average 12 percent the first year and three percent each of the next two years; Higher shift differentials for afternoons and nights; Phaseout of the practice of calling in nurses from home to work mandatory overtime; and Improved Paid Time Off policies, especially for nurses with long tenure at the hospital.

Shoop says the new contract will help attract more nurses to work at the hospital and ensure more nurses continue working in the Three Rivers area community.