Balto Hospital Workers Win Contract

Christmas came early for the 250 1199SEIU members at Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore who won a new contract on December 20. “This is a very exciting contract and I am proud to have been a part of this bargaining committee,” said Joyce Dukes, a central sterile technician at the hospital. The new three-year contract includes increases for all workers in the first year of the contract -- some as high as 24% -- along with three percent increases for all workers during the second and third years of the contract. Also won were seniority increases for employees with 25 years or more of service in the first year of the contract and employees with 15 years or more of service in the second year of the contract, a 50% increase in the monthly disability benefit and a graduated vesting in the pension program as well as a 20% increase in the shift differential.