New Bedford VA Nurses Face Pay Cuts Up to 20%

About a dozen local registered nurses and nurse practitioners have been broadsided by an announcement indicating they face steep pay cuts.

Last month, the Rhode Island Department of Veterans Affairs informed the staff at the New Bedford Veterans Affairs Medical Center via memo (pictured below) they have been overpaid for the past 19 years due to an error in pay scale appropriation. Rhode Island management indicates that under the local labor market area salary data, the New Bedford branch should fall under the Providence pay scale instead of their current Boston pay scale.

This caller to WBSM's "Taylor Cormier Show" says his wife is a nurse at the New Bedford VA. He says correspondences between New Bedford and Providence claim the staff can either accept a pay cut between 14.5% to 20%, or pay back any overpayments they've received.

According to the correspondences, the union cannot negotiate pay.

The nursing staff at the New Bedford VA has reached out to Congressman William Keating, attorneys, and union representatives to preserve their current pay.