UPDATE (WKOW) -- Nurses at UnityPoint Health Meriter Hospital in Madison now have a contract, avoiding a strike.
The system finalized the deal Sunday morning after reaching a tentative agreement Saturday night.
The nurses union had been threatening to strike and had filed a federal lawsuit.
That has now been withdrawn.
The deal has many involved, breathing a sigh of relief.
The new contract includes expanded and replenished paid time off for nurses who had to use up their leave during the pandemic improved extra shift pay, improved base pay, and the opportunity for nurses to have a greater voice in decisions during current and future public health crises.
"How am I feeling? Honestly great, relieved, empowered," Rhiannon Gatton said.
He was one of the nurses on the union bargaining team vying to get improved benefits for the 850 nurses at the hospital.
"It was important to get a foundation of change for, and to help, nurses which will eventually help patients, frankly," he Gatton said.
The union nurses signed voted on a new contract Saturday, that met their demands.
For Gatton the most important thing was getting enough time off to make up for what they had to use up during the pandemic.
"We need time to rest and recuperate and be with our family to recover ourselves, now we have some of that back," he said.
Gatton says there's no hard feeling between the union and the hospital, saying they're still a family.
"You're not always going to get along with your siblings or your parents but that's what compromise is about, it's coming together, figuring out a solution collaboratively, which was one of our biggest goals that we went into this with and we found that voice," he said.
Now Gatton says their union has emerged as a leader in the community, and they hope to use this momentum to help others.
"We're having huge discussions with union leaders and members on how to reach UW, Saint Mary's, so we can help inspire and give them a framework to work with because this was obviously a successful framework to work with," he said.
The health system put out a statement Sunday morning, saying its leaders are pleased with the outcome.
They say they've been committed to supporting the nurses, and the new contract only furthers that promise.
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