Nurses Secure Agreement, Call Off Strike Scheduled for March 23

Nurses Secure New Agreement, Strike Called Off

After eight months of negotiations aimed at enhancing health, safety, and economic terms in their union contract, nurses at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) have reached a tentative agreement with the administration. The planned strike for Monday, March 23, has been canceled. Represented by the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, the nurses have made significant strides in their contract discussions.

"EMMC came at us particularly hard this time around," shared Erin Oberson, a labor and delivery RN and part of the bargaining team. "Until the very last minute, they insisted on huge takeaways from us. They also wanted to decrease paid time off (PTO) and eliminate the pension for new nurses. Not only did we beat back every one of their concessionary demands, but we won new safety protections for all nurses and patients, and made real economic improvements as well.”

The union attributes their success to the collective stance of the nurses and the looming threat of a strike. Diane Alexander, the union chief steward and member of the bargaining team, noted: “We were ready to strike because the hospital insisted to the very end that we give up some of the foundational elements of our current union contract. These included the protections we have against our health care costs skyrocketing and punishing new nurses with lower PTO accruals. We were not willing to sell out ourselves or new nurses to win this contract. In the end, we kept everything we had before and got many new improvements, as well.”

Under the new agreement, union nurses will see pay increases between 12 to 17 percent over the next three years. Additional enhancements include increases in various pay differentials and a ban on all weapons within the hospital premises.

The EMMC nurses are set to vote on ratifying this contract on March 25, 2026.

The Maine State Nurses Association, part of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, represents 4,000 nurses and other caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. The NNOC is affiliated with National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing labor union of registered nurses in the United States, boasting over 225,000 members nationwide.

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