CITY OF HUDSON – After working without a current contract for one year, the 750 members of 1199SEIU have ratified a new four-year contract with Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson.
The union praised local public officials and the community-at-large for supporting the staff. Mayor Kamal Johnson said he will continue to stand with the workers and their economic needs.
“These are all the individuals who risk their lives and the lives of their families as well as their own mental wellbeing,” he said. “When COVID hit the scene, it was very nerve racking for all of us and they stepped up and continue to step up in was we could never repay.”
The agreement is retro-active to January 1, 2020 and goes to December 31, 2023.
Union leadership and rank-and-file are satisfied with the pact, which includes pay raises, increases in differentials, and affordable health care coverage.
They said more needs to be done including continued negotiations for hazard pay, which was not included in this contract. Healthcare workers across the industry have been lobbying for hazard pay as they are on the frontlines of treating patients with COVID-19.
