Contract negotiations between the Ohio Nurses Association and University Hospitals Geneva Medical Center broke down after the 6th session of negotiations, and hospital nurses plan to strike if no agreement can be reached.
At issue are economic provisions including a potential change to health insurance premiums. University Hospitals Geneva has indicated that they will remove premium rate charts for health insurance that cap annual increases. This will expose the nurses to increases without a ceiling on premium costs.
The ONA offered to withdraw all remaining non-economic provisions, including a union membership requirement and a successorship agreement in order to secure economic provisions. University Hospitals Geneva did not agree to the offer.
The nurses claim that, during this rough economic period, it is essential that the RNs protect themselves from having a large employer potentially shift the cost of health insurance premiums from itself onto the individual nurses by securing a percentage of premiums paid.
On November 25, 2008, the ONA gave University Hospitals Geneva a 10-day strike notice. As of December 7, 2008, University Hospitals Geneva has maintained its proposals. The parties are not scheduled to meet again.
If the nurses and the hospital cannot reach an agreement before the contract expires on December 9 at midnight, the ONA has said the nurses will strike and maintain a picket line on December 10, 2008 in front of University Hospitals Geneva Medical Center.