Overview

• SEIU 1199 members voted overwhelmingly to approve the deal, formally ending a three-month strike by nearly 800 nurses and frontline staff.
• The agreement sets a $20-per-hour minimum for all current employees by the end of the contract, provides at least $6,000 in first-year raises for full-time staff, maintains health benefits, secures affordable retirement, and adds a $600,000 education fund.
• New safety provisions include financial support for employees injured by workplace violence and a time bank to supplement pay during recovery.
• Hospital leaders and the union said services will be restored, with details of return-to-work plans to be shared in the coming days.
• During the stoppage, Butler closed dozens of beds and its 29-bed addiction unit and operated at roughly half capacity, while Care New England reported a $4.4 million operating loss tied to costly temporary staffing and credited federal mediators with helping reach a deal.