Update on Elmer and Mannington ICU Closures
Dear members,
We notified you on June 12th that Inspira advised the Union of their intent to close Elmer and Mannington Intensive Care Units. We have spent the last week negotiating with them, and we now have an agreement that follows contract language and will allow all effected nurses the opportunity to remain employed in another position. While the closures only directly impact two of the three locals at Inspira, all three came together to ensure that these nurses would have job opportunities across all locals while protecting member rights for all.
We hope all nurses affected by the layoff will be appointed to new positions within Inspira before the end of the month. During contract negotiations last year, we spent an extensive amount of time on layoff language which guarantees them a full orientation specific to each department to learn their new position. If any of these nurses transfer to your department, please welcome them and help them settle into their new roles, as this was not an anticipated change for anyone.
At this time, Inspira is awaiting Department of Health approval for these closures. We would like to be explicitly clear that the union is not in agreement with these closures, and do not believe it is in the best interest of our communities. However, we agreed to negotiate over the layoffs to best serve our nurses and protect their rights within our contract during this inevitable transition.
In solidarity, Your Local 5131 Executive Board