Bangor hospital, nurses fail to work out contract

A fourth negotiation session Thursday evening, this one overseen by a federal mediator, failed to resolve a contract dispute between about 100 unionized nurses and administrators at Houlton Regional Hospital.

A fifth meeting has been scheduled for January even though an extension of the existing contract will expire on Dec. 31. The nurses agreed to the extension after their contract expired earlier this fall. Negotiations between the two parties started in November.

“We are pretty disappointed with the results of the meeting today,” Maine State Nurses Association spokeswoman Vanessa Sylvester said Thursday evening. “We will be passing out leaflets in the community this weekend to educate people about the work we do and the safety issues we are facing.”