Agreement will improve nurse retention and recruitment, enhance patient care, and strengthen St. Luke’s ability to serve the community
NEW BEDFORD, Mass., Oct. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The registered nurses of St. Luke’s Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new three-year contract agreement with Southcoast Health, concluding months of negotiations focused on improving patient care conditions through safe staffing and competitive compensation.
The nurses’ new MNA contract features strong wage increases that will make St. Luke’s more competitive with regional hospitals such as Cape Cod Healthcare, Brockton Hospital, and BI Plymouth Hospital when it comes to hiring and keeping nurses. As a Level II Trauma Center and the largest hospital in Southeastern Massachusetts, St. Luke’s plays a critical role in protecting the health and well-being of the entire region. This contract represents real investment by Southcoast in the St. Luke’s nursing workforce to help meet its responsibility to patients and the community.
“This contract is a meaningful victory for our nurses, our patients, and our community,” said Kim Beaulieu, RN, and Co-Chair of the St. Luke’s MNA Bargaining Committee. “Our success is the direct result of nurses engaging together in negotiations and collective action. These improvements will support nurses, strengthen recruitment and retention, and ensure our patients receive the high-quality care they deserve.”
“St. Luke’s nurses have shown unity and dedication throughout this process,” said Terri DeMedeiros, RN, and Co-Chair of the St. Luke’s MNA Bargaining Committee. “We live and work in this community, and we are proud that this contract reflects our shared commitment to providing excellent care for the people of New Bedford and the Southcoast.”
The ratification vote follows a sustained campaign that included consistent engagement with St. Luke’s nurses by the bargaining committee, open bargaining sessions, a petition delivered to the CEO signed by 600+ nurses, and a well-attended informational picket in September that drew strong support from community members, elected officials, and fellow union members from across Massachusetts.
Agreement Summary
RN Staffing
- The new contract continues and enhances enforceable staffing language from the nurses’ first contract that holds the hospital accountable for ensuring adequate RN staffing based on the hospital unit and the number of patients.
- A joint committee will be created to discuss issues affecting Family-Centered Unit nurses, including training and competency, continuity of care, minimizing mandatory on-call, and creating fair and equitable system for on-call when it is required.
- A joint committee will also be established to address staffing issues on the Knowles (stepdown/intermediary care) unit. The primary goal of the committee will be to create a separate staffing plan that improves RN staffing on that unit.
- Safely limiting RN-patient assignments for stepdown/intermediary care patients is essential to ensuring high-quality care, especially for trauma patients who often have complex and rapidly changing needs.
- RN staffing improvements will help prevent complications and allow nurses to provide the close monitoring and clinical assessment required for proper recovery in this type of high-acuity setting.
Wages
- The agreement includes a new 20-step wage scale with 3.25% between steps, retroactive back to January 2025. The staff nurse wage scale will range from $40.74 to $74.81 per hour. This is an immediate $7/hour+ increase at the top of the scale.
- In year two of the contract (January 2026), add a 4% across-the-board raise for all nurses, with the scale going from $42.37 to $77.81 per hour.
- In year three of the contract (January 2027), add a 4% across-the-board raise for all nurses, with the scale going from $44.06 to $80.92 per hour.
- An example: A nurse currently on step 8 would go from making $44.58 to $58.76 per hour with across-the-board increases and annual step increases by their anniversary date in 2027.
In addition, St. Luke’s nurses secured a number of other enhancements, all of which will contribute to nurses’ satisfaction and safer patient care.
“This contract demonstrates respect for St. Luke’s nurses and the vital role we play in delivering compassionate, expert care every day,” Beaulieu added. “We look forward to building on this progress and holding Southcoast accountable to its committed improvements.”
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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 26,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association
