A mental health organization that serves more than 10,000 Berkshire County families and a union representing 350 of its workers have reached a tentative agreement to avoid a strike planned to start Monday. It ends months of negotiations as employees claimed low pay was creating worker turnover.
The Brien Center and SEIU Local 509 announced Sunday they’ve reached an agreement on pay and benefits. The union says front-line clinicians and direct care staff will receive a 7 percent wage increase over the life of their contract – including a retroactive 1.5 percent increase to January 1, 2015, a 2.5 percent raise in October 2015, and a 3 percent raise in October 2016. The Brien Center has agreed to increase its share of healthcare costs by 10% and has established a joint committee to ensure a more equitable distribution of health insurance costs moving forward, according to the union. SEIU Local 509 says should the committee be unable to reach an agreement, a hard cap on out-of-pocket healthcare increases will go into effect.
The agreement is subject to ratification by full union membership at the Brien Center.
Brien CEO Christine MacBeth thanked all of the agency’s 450 employees, saying the deal is financially sustainable.
The Brien Center’s offices will be open Monday.
