Tell Maine Medical Center President Jeff Sanders to Restore Paid Leave for Nurses

In December Maine Medical Center unilaterally terminated nurses’ paid leave for parental, bereavement, jury duty, and military service. No other employees at MMC have lost these benefits to date and several MMC nurses report that managers told them these benefits are ending because they joined the union.

Several nurses who are on bereavement leave were told they would not be paid for their time away as they mourn the passing of their loved ones. The termination of these paid leave benefits will make it more difficult and costly for any nurse who sits on a jury or who is called away for military service.

“As a postpartum nurse, I can tell you with complete conviction that parental leave is one of the most important things that guarantees the well-being of both the birthing parent, the support parent and their baby or babies,” said Emma Cooper, a member of the Maine State Nurses’ Association and RN in the postpartum wing of Maine Medical Center. “It sets people up for failure or success. To deny the people that provide care to the community, care for themselves is just a gut punch. It’s devastating.”

Take Action!Use this form to join us in telling Maine Med President Jeff Sanders: re-establish nurses' paid parental, bereavement, military service and jury duty pay now!