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New agreement raises USVI Nurse salaries to $86K-$118K

May 18th, 2024 | Tags: USVI nurses salary salary increase
A Friday press release from Government House informed the public that a tentative wage agreement had been reached with the union that represents registered nurses at the Department of Health and local hospitals. Photo: VI Consortium
VI CONSORTIUM

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, St. Thomas, USVI - A Friday press release from Government House informed the public that a tentative wage agreement had been reached with the union that represents registered nurses at the Department of Health and local hospitals.

Members of the Registered Nurses Leadership Union are employed as assistant head nurses, head nurses, manager administrative care coordinators and clinical care coordinators at Schneider Regional Medical Center, the Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center, and the Department of Health. 

“Signing this tentative wage agreement underscores our commitment to the healthcare professionals who are the backbone of our medical institutions,” Governor Albert Bryan Jr. said in the statement announcing the agreement. “This agreement is a testament to our dedication to improving healthcare services for all residents of the Virgin Islands.” 

The union’s last collective bargaining agreement covered the fiscal years 2016 through 2020. In the tentative wage agreement, reached four years after the expiration of the previous CBA, the parties have agreed to resolve the gap between agreements by waiving wage negotiations for fiscal years 2021 through 2021. The new collective bargaining agreement that will be finalized will be effective from FY 2023 to 2026. 

According to the tentative agreement, at the Department of Health, salaries will range from $86,000 for the most junior assistant head nurse, up to $113,000 for the most senior clinical care coordinator with over 20 years of experience. At the hospitals, the salary range is slightly higher beginning at $88,000 to $118,000 annually, according to the new agreement, seen here. If a nurse has board certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the salary increases by an additional $2000 to an employer’s base salary. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2023 the average wage for registered nurses across the country was $94,480.

The new agreement lays out a salary scale that is much closer to the national average, said both Governor Bryan and Joss Springette, the government’s chief negotiator. They hope that the increased salaries will help to stem the outflow of highly skilled nursing professionals seeking better pay and improved working conditions on the mainland. The tentative agreement is a “crucial step toward addressing staffing shortages that have long burdened our healthcare system,” Governor Bryan said, while Ms. Springette hoped that the agreement would “bring some needed relief to those who are carrying a heavier load because of the staffing shortages.”

The tentative agreement must now be ratified by union membership and approved by the Territorial Hospital Facilities Board, and ultimately the governor.

20 Responses to “New agreement raises USVI Nurse salaries to $86K-$118K”

  • Norris Turnbull (18/05/2024, 17:43) Like (16) Dislike (5) Reply
    Bvi take note
  • Govt that cares. (18/05/2024, 18:26) Like (5) Dislike (0) Reply
    that appreciates and cares about the the profession, health care and its people..
  • ... (18/05/2024, 18:29) Like (16) Dislike (1) Reply
    Vino why you post this? all the bvi nurses going run tock city
    • Hmm (19/05/2024, 13:27) Like (10) Dislike (1) Reply
      As they should! They slaving nurses over here! Ain’t nobody want to be a nurse here with that pay! It’s ridiculous!!
  • hi (18/05/2024, 19:45) Like (9) Dislike (1) Reply
    Bvi head nurse bearly makes $25000.
  • Ty (18/05/2024, 19:59) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
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  • bvi nurse (18/05/2024, 23:36) Like (10) Dislike (0) Reply
    I moving to the u.s.vi
  • Doctor (19/05/2024, 07:25) Like (7) Dislike (0) Reply
    Not even our doctors getting these salaries.
    Not even an increment over the past 5 years. That is how appreciative we are of our Healthcare workers. Government workers got most of their increments and a reclassification of salaries. Zilch for the poor Healthcare workers.
  • Hmm (19/05/2024, 08:20) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    The USVI teachers already make way more now the nurses too. Meanwhile we over here don’t want to pay our people no money approving work permits with no quota or based on statistics and allowing all these businesses to replace everybody with Filipinos who gonna work for pittance and not leave. The one thing I agree with the Premier on this year is that we need to slow down on the imported labour and start educating and empowering and employing our own people. Sometimes you go into a business and not one local in there; how is that possible if we have a labour department that looking out for the overall best interest of the territory? The reality is that only the bottom line matters, a bvislander will never be good enough once you allowed to import your lil slave from wherever who gonna just say ‘yes sir’ no matter what cause they just glad to be working for US dollar to send home.
  • BVILOVE (19/05/2024, 10:51) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Question is the BVi lander going work for that the Goverment paying these imported cheap labour no no no no when them can go US and bet big bucks for less work as in BVI nough work and little PAY
  • smh (19/05/2024, 14:09) Like (2) Dislike (3) Reply
    Y’all keep looking at what US is doing. You cannot compare US country to non U.S. The care is different, they deal with more stuff compare to BVI. I agree the BVI need to recognize their nurses more but do not compare.
    • Exactly (19/05/2024, 18:00) Like (1) Dislike (3) Reply
      If U.K would have been more interested in her step child . We be in better shape I assume.
      • jokes (20/05/2024, 06:49) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
        And BVI looking independence! We have embarrassed uk so many times I surprised they didn't just take over!
    • Ghost (20/05/2024, 06:56) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
      Sorry to say, but this is a foolish comment. The salary is not about the type of work that is done; it’s about being compensated for your work. Period. /your Degree. Nurses and Doctors work hard for their degree not forgetting the daily risk that comes with these professions and YES they “Should” be compensated for it All. The BVI need to pay nurses and doctors more than what they pay them. If not bvi “will” lose them to greener pastures . So plz stop with the nonsensical comment whomever you are.
  • HMMM (19/05/2024, 18:29) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
    I hope our new Labour Commissioner got the cahooners to deal with this labour issue. Because if you need to import thousands of FIllipinos for entry level work in your country, it has to be for slavish wages. Maybe good for the businesses to save, but bad for the community as this little country will soon be like other Caribbean countries with crime. For when someone is hungry and desperate, well, they are not thinking logically. So Fillipinos get to feed their families back home and they live 20 to a two-bedroom apartment and import their own food so not even adding to the economy, just taking. I think the Labour Department is just a rubber stamping unit. One applies, one receives. Even in Government where there are pension jobs we have issues. Our children are at home, quietly waiting for someone to answer their application requests. Sad, sad, sad. One young man told me he sent out 25 letters and nothing. When urged to call and ask the status of his application he is then told they will get back with him and never does. There are good and bad in every community. There are lazy and worksome in every community. Heck there are tall and short in every community. Why the Hell we need all these strangers in our community? They are all 'qualified' and we are not? Mr. Premier, you should know that BVIslanders are more qualified now than ever before. You can do a poll if you do not think so. Our children are at the college and going abroad and returning and being treated like sh** because lots of strangers are now supervisors, especially at the Hospital and the Police Force, places where we are outnumbered ten to one. While imported labour, some are not even high school graduates and beating our children out of jobs. This needs looking into. Where else can we be first if not at home. And this entitled song that we are singing is nonsense because you are entitled to a living wage and a decent quality of living at HOME. Others are coming from far and wide and getting it. We are 'entitled'. It is wrong.
  • preacher1 (21/05/2024, 14:28) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    alot of people do not appreciate the care of nurses and aids give, they have to deal with body fluids and disease
    and still you view them as maids


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