The almost 800 registered nurses and nurse practitioners at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract agreement that provides market-leading investments in nurses, enabling DFCI to retain experienced nurses and recruit the nurses necessary to delivering exceptional cancer care and conducting innovative research.
“We are incredibly proud of the care we provide Dana-Farber patients and the unity our nurses have shown in securing the resources we need to continue delivering exceptional care,” said Stephen Laughlin, RN, MNA Chair at DFCI. “The new Dana-Farber nurse contract will help us maintain our top of the market status and allow the institute to recruit and retain top nurses who provide cutting edge cancer treatments.”
DFCI nurses voted by mail, with the vote count occurring on July 18. Their new two-year contract covers January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2025. The ratification comes as Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital nurses are on the verge of strike authorization votes. Nurses at both hospitals are seeking strong investments by MGB in their RN workforces to overcome unsafe staffing and patient care conditions.
DFCI RN Contract Highlights
- Wage Increases: To keep up with a competitive nurse market and complex patient care challenges, DFCI agreed to provide a 9% raise to all nurses in the first year of the contract, including retroactive pay. Nurses will receive a 3% increase in year two with a new partial top step created that is 3% above the current top wage scale step.
- Attracting Newer Nurses: DFCI agreed to drop the current bottom wage scale step of the contract, raising the rate for newer nurses and making the institute more competitive in this recruitment area.
- On-Call Improvement: The on-call pay rate will increase to the state’s minimum wage (currently $15/hour). Historically, at DFCI and elsewhere on-call hourly rates have been much lower than the minimum wage and regular pay, burdening nurses who face demanding on-call responsibilities amid an increasing need for expert nursing care.
- Grievance Enhancement: Nurses will now be able to file collective grievances when confronting violations of their contract. Previously, only individual grievances were allowed. DFCI nurses will be able to join together while seeking resolution of violations in which they are similarly affected.
- Seniority Scheduling: DFCI nurses negotiated scheduling by seniority into their contract to ensure a fair application of scheduling by management across hospital units.
