Chino Valley Medical Center RNs Ratify First Contract

After a long battle, the registered nurses at Chino Valley Medical Center have ratified their first contract! Among the benefits won in the contract:

* No increase on health care costs over the life of the three-year contract
* Improvements in preceptor pay
* First ever guaranteed wage increase
* Protected Paid Time Off benefits
* Strong seniority rights
* Establishment of a Patient Care Committee
* Just cause, grievance and arbitration procedure

Chino Valley is the first Prime Healthcare hospital in the United States to win a union contract! The only other Prime Healthcare hospitals to achieve contracts were those with existing union contracts that were sold to Prime. This is a huge victory for the bargaining team, made up of nurses from Chino, UNAC/UHCP Chief Negotiator Barbara Lewis, and UNAC/UHCP Staff Representative Penny Brown, who began bargaining the first contract last summer.

We congratulate the nurses at Chino … Read more

PRESS RELEASE: Corona Nurses Urge Hospital Administrators to Proceed Slowly with EHR Implementation

Corona Regional Medical Center will implement a paperless record system on June 2. This complicated health care IT system will be put in place despite urgent calls by the Corona nurses to provide additional training so that patients will not be at risk. Nurses at Corona mailed and faxed a letter to the Interim Chief Nursing Officer Sheila Martin on May 31, urging the hospital to delay the implementation so that patient safety is not at risk.

SB 491 Goes to Assembly, Would Expand NP and OD Scope of Practice

On May 29, the California Senate passed SB 491, the UNAC/UHCP endorsed bill authored by Sen Ed Hernandez that would expand the scope of practice for nurse practitioners, optometrists, and pharmacists.

The bill will now go to the California Assembly.

Read more about SB 491 on the UNAC/UHCP website. … Read more

Fountain Valley RNs & Professionals Protest Takeaways

FVPA had two days of eventful bargaining this week, which saw management submit an insulting counter to the Union’s compensation proposal on day one. On day two, dozens of RNs and professionals showed up to protest. But at noon management proposed to increase our contribution to our medical plans. Click through to learn more.

Kaiser Therapists: Negotiations Off to a Great Start

Our Negotiating Team has reviewed our bargaining surveys, to identify key issues for negotiations. We’ve also made a great start in negotiations, reaching tentative agreement on nine contract articles. We negotiate again Tuesday, May 21. Click through for more details.

Lakewood Bargaining Highlights: May 15, 2013

Contract negotiations on Tuesday took on an exciting and energetic tone when nearly a dozen LRNA members joined our bargaining team to observe the proposals about staffing, floating, cancellation, scheduling and management’s response. We reached agreement on new lay off language protecting seniority and years of service. Join our bargaining team and coworkers on June 4 and 5 to help make sure we achieve a strong contract. Your presence makes a difference. It did on Tuesday!

Chino RNs: Join Us at Negotiations May 24!

We are getting closer to completing our contract negotiations! However, management provided a wage proposal that demonstrates a lack of respect for the true value of Chino nurses. We will respond to management’s wage proposal on Friday, May 24, 2013. Your voice is needed now more than ever! Come to Negotiations and Let’s Finish this TOGETHER!

Inland Valley RNs Alert Murrieta City Council to ER Safety Hazard

We continue to alert our community to the dangers presented by Inland Valley’s refusal to dedicate a full-time MICN to the radio room in the ER. The danger is not just to Inland Valley patients but region-wide, since Inland is a Base Station, directing ambulance traffic and assisting paramedics throughout Southwestern Riverside County.

Last night, we took our case to the Murrieta City Council. MICN Nina Ballard told the council about tending two trauma patients at once and also having to answer the base station radio phone.

Our previous steps to address this problem have included:

• Presenting a petition with over 65 signatures of paramedics, firefighters and RNs to the ED Director
• Presenting a letter to hospital CEO Gino Patrizio on April 19
• Holding a press conference on April 26, which was covered extensively by local media. See the press reports here.
• Meeting with California State Assembly member Melisa

… Read more

UNAC/UHCP to Kaiser: Honor Our Contract

At the annual Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions’ delegate conference, UNAC/UHCP delegates took action against Kaiser management who were in attendance for violating our seniority provisions. Kaiser’s CEO responded “I will see to it that we get to the bottom of this and get the issue resolved.” Sounds great. Will it happen? If recent history is any indicator, we will need to continue to let Kaiser know that we expect them to honor our contract! Send a letter to Ben Chu and Judy White today to remind them!

Major Labor Leaders Call on Kaiser to Rescind Reduction in Force

Over a dozen leaders from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and other unions demonstrated solidarity with UNAC/UHCP by signing a letter to Ben Chu, Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region President, which says in part:

“We urge you to follow the Collective Bargaining Agreement. We ask that you rescind the notices given to health care professionals in Southern California and follow seniority.”

See the complete letter with signatures.… Read more