A new four-year contract has higher wages and better staffing levels, averting a strike by nurses at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, writes Ryan  Sharrow for Philadelphia Business Journal.

The 260-plus nurses had planned to go on strike next week if a deal wasn’t reached  with Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic. They’ve been working without a contract since Sept. 30.

The nurses are represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP).

They will see 3 percent wage hikes each of the first three years of the contract and 4 percent the final year, with total wage increases between 13 percent to 24 percent.

The contract also increases staffing to reflect changes in the number of patients. The increase means qualified nurses will “always be at bedside.”

A new system will also call in available nurses to work when they are needed.

“In the positive resolution of this contract fight on the cusp of a vicious surge of the [COVID-19} virus, the needs of our frontline workers have been respected and their patient communities are further protected. We are thrilled,” said PASNAP President Maureen May.

Read more about the new nurses contract at Mercy Fitzgerlad Hospital at Philadelphia Business Journal.

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