Kaiser, nurses reach agreement, averting strike
https://portside.org/2015-01-18/kaiser-nurses-reach-agreement-averting-strike
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Author: Hamed Aleaziz
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SFGATE
A planned strike this week by registered nurses at Kaiser hospitals was canceled after a tentative contract agreement was reached with the health care giant, union officials said Saturday.
The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United said it scrapped plans to walk out Wednesday and Thursday after it resolved months of stalled contract negotiations over issues including staffing cuts and workplace protections. The agreement, reached late Friday evening, affects 18,000 nurses and nurse practitioners at more than 80 Kaiser hospitals and clinics in Northern and Central California, union officials said.
“It goes a long way in establishing relationships and structure to build a different relationship with Kaiser Permanente,” said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of the union. Nurses must still ratify the agreement.
The proposed contract calls for hundreds of new nurses to be hired, new workplace protections, increased pay, continued pension plans, and new committees of nurses and nurse practitioners to address concerns over standard of care, union leaders said.
Kaiser said in a news release Saturday that it was pleased to announce the contract agreement, which lasts three years. Thousands of nurses went on strike in November as part of the dispute.
“We greatly respect and value our nurses. This agreement is aligned with our commitment to improve our quality and affordability and to be a national model for the delivery of health care,” Gregory A. Adams, regional president for Kaiser in Northern California, said in a statement.The agreement resolved just one labor issue for the health care company.
Last week, more than 2,000 Kaiser mental health care workers went on strike over what they say is understaffing and long wait times for mental health patients. Those workers are represented by a separate union, National Union of Healthcare Workers.
DeMoro said the nurses union would “help engage on their behalf,” adding that their agreement helped set the standard.