Overview
- The Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee says 55 registered nurses will strike for two days starting Nov. 18 after providing notice on Nov. 7.
- Nurses cite chronic emergency-department understaffing, patients held in hallway beds, and deliveries occurring in the ER since the labor-and-delivery unit closed.
- The union and hospital have bargained for more than a year after the previous contract expired on Nov. 30, 2024.
- CEO Jeff Zewe says management has offered a fair, competitive contract with substantial wage increases and improved benefits, and the hospital has a contingency plan for the walkout.
- Under a one-year executive management agreement begun in May, Northern Maine Medical Center leaders say they are raising wages toward market levels and expanding hiring at the 25-bed hospital serving about 17,000 people.