COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State University Nurses Organization has reached a tentative agreement with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center on a new contract.
The Ohio Nurses Association, the union representing the nurses, announced the agreement was reached Friday afternoon.
The proposed three-year agreement guarantees wage increases of 7% plus additional market adjustments for most nurses during the first year of the contract.
It also guarantees 3% wage increases for the second and third years, increases for nurses at the top of the scale for the next three years and increasing incentive pay up to 22% for nurses who pick up extra shifts.
“Our members actively demonstrated the need for real recruitment and retention efforts from the medical center, including competitive pay. In an era where nurses are leaving the bedside in droves, it is more important than ever OSU listen to the needs of nurses and pay them what they’re worth so together we can break the cycle of short nurse staffing, lengthy ER wait times and potentially unsafe patient care,” stated Rick Lucas, OSUNO president. “I’m proud of our members and their push that ultimately made OSU do the right thing. There is power when nurses come together, and our union is proof.”
The nurses and the medical center began negotiations on March 1, 2022. The announcement of an agreement comes one day after the nurses held a protest outside of the hospital.
According to a release from the Ohio Nurses Association, the medical center has over 750 nursing vacancies and the hospital has lost two nurses for every one hire since January 2021.
The nurses will vote on the agreement late next week.
10TV has reached out to the Wexner Medical Center for comment on the tentative agreement.