Nurses reach tentative agreement with management, ratification vote to come.

Registered nurses at Antelope Valley Medical Center (AVMC) in Lancaster, California, will not move forward with a planned November 19 strike, as nurses reached a tentative agreement yesterday with AVMC management on a new union contract, California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) announced today.

Antelope Valley Medical Center nurses have been in negotiations since March for a new contract. Nurses will vote on whether to ratify the new agreement on November 18 and 19.

“We called an unfair labor practice strike because management was not bargaining in good faith to address several of our outstanding demands at the bargaining table,” said Kathleen Stalter, RN in the telemetry unit at AVMC. “Through the nurses’ solidarity, we were able to reach a tentative agreement that will improve patient care and staffing.”

“We are thrilled to reach an agreement that will improve recruitment and retention,” said Brandi Wechsberg, RN in the post-anesthesia care unit of the Women and Infants Pavilion. “We have been fighting for months for a strong contract that will ensure safe staffing and safe patient care.” 

CNA/NNU represents over 900 nurses at Antelope Valley Hospital.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and nearly 225,000 RNs nationwide.