MISSOULA — Kate Marmorato was getting off of her night shift when she heard that months of planning and negotiations had come to a culmination.
On Friday, April 5, the nurse’s union at Providence St. Patrick Hospital approved a three-year contract by a narrow vote, bringing months of negotiation to an end.
Marmorato is co-president of the Montana Nurses Association Local 17 Nurses Union, which spearheaded negotiations. She has worked at St Patrick Hospital for 10 years.
The new contract was approved by 56% of the nurses who voted, according to Marmorato.
St. Patrick Hospital nurses were fighting for higher wages, plans to prevent workplace violence and more effort to retain staff.
In a statement to MTN, Providence St. Patrick Hospital said, “St. Patrick Hospital does not agree with the perspectives shared by the union.”:
At the end of negotiations, Marmorato says the union felt relatively understood by local leadership, but the larger corporation of Providence was unable to see eye-to-eye with the nurses.
“I personally feel like any recognition came from the local leadership that is here, but I understand how a big corporation works,” she says. “Montana is very unique, so I don’t know that all of the intricacies of our community and our needs made it all the way up the chain.”
Marmorato says the union was happy with some aspects of the new, 100-plus page contract, but they were also disappointed by other points.
Specifically, the union was looking for stronger language when addressing workplace violence and staff retention.
Some pay increases were included in the document, but Marmorato was unable to provide specifics.
The contract offered more opportunities for future communication and feedback from nurses. It also updated aspects that had become outdated since their last contract negotiations four years ago.
The nurse’s union had mixed reactions to the contract, according to Marmorato, because all issues were not addressed.
“I think reaction is going to be mixed when there is a close vote, but as I said, there’s things that were wins, and there’s things that we still need to work on, and we’ll have that opportunity in three years,” she says.
With more opportunities for nurses to provide feedback, Marmorato is optimistic that the workplace environment at St. Patrick Hospital will change for the better.
“Just try to take advantage of that and have a seat at the table,” Marmorato says.
