In statements about their proposal on across-the-board wages, management has attempted to take credit for our contract’s wage scale which has existed for nearly two decades.

The truth is:

1. Acting like the wage scale is some magical new offer that nurses probably don’t understand is completely patronizing and tone-deaf. We know how our wage scale works.

2. Our employer didn’t wake up one day and decide to give us credit for our years of experience.

3. It’s a Union negotiated benefit: Our strong wage scale exists because Union leaders who came before us had the foresight to plan for this so we’d all get credit for our years of experience.

4. The increases that management has been describing as more than 3% for some members is not additional money they’ve proposed, it’s a direct result of our existing Wage Scale which provides increases for anyone who moves up in years of experience and becomes eligible for a new step.

Members would earn these experience-based increases from the scale regardless of the wage increases proposed by management or the union team– they would exist even without an Across the Board (ATB) increase.

5. When your bargaining team challenged management on their misleading math at Thursday’s session, Providence’s chief negotiator explained “We could have proposed to remove the wage scale but we have not.”

In addition to their misleading explanation, they have also:

A) Proposed to increase healthcare premium costs (on a blended average) from 8% to as much as 10% annually going forward,

B) Proposed to have the ability to do away with health incentives – while refusing to accept proposals that would help members feel safe from sexual and other harassment,

C) Refused to commit to language for a safer work environment and,

D) Refused to meaningfully address unsafe staffing and missed breaks.

All of this while already having ended a retirement incentive and switched health plan providers –costing some of our families thousands of dollars in additional out of pocket costs.