Sutter Lakeside RNs Also Score Tentative Contract Agreement

Registered nurses at two more Sutter hospitals, Sutter Roseville Medical Center and Sutter Tracy Tuesday voted to approve new collective bargaining agreements with the big Northern California hospital chain that provide for economic gains, and for Tracy RNs, their first ever union contract.

Separately, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United announced that RNs at another Sutter hospital, Sutter Lakeside in Lake County, Tuesday also reached a tentative settlement with hospital officials. On Monday, RNs at Sutter Auburn Faith, in the Sierra foothills, approved their new contract agreement.

The pacts cover 1,000 RNs at Sutter Roseville, 340 RNs at Sutter Auburn Faith 200 RNs at Sutter Tracy, and 140 RNs at Sutter Lakeside, all among 7,000 RNs represented by CNA at Sutter hospitals.  

Throughout Sutter facilities, the nurses held a number of rallies and other actions while nurses have been in bargaining for much of the past two years, much of it centered on pressing Sutter to withdraw a series of contract concessions that would have eroded work standards and extracted drastic cuts in nurses health coverage. Their actions were coordinated with nurses at other Sutter hospitals.

“The duration of this negotiation reflects our resolve,” said Sutter Roseville RN Jeni Traynor. “The ratification of this contract shows we are united. This process proved to Sutter we are serious about safe patient care and working conditions.”

"We began our journey as individuals but now 18 months later we are a united front,” said Sutter Roseville RN Jennifer Barker-Tilley. “From our first strike to our last rally we have stood strong as nurses. This vote signifies our power as patient advocates, nurses and colleagues.” 

The Roseville agreement includes wage increases of 16.5 percent for all the RNs over the next four years, additional increases for nurses who work per diem (without health coverage) and on night shifts, improvements in dental, vision, and long term disability benefits, and agreement to increase nurse participation in the hospital’s Emergency Preparedness Committee. The hospital also agreed to withdraw outstanding demands for significant cuts in the nurses’ health coverage.

Sutter Roseville nurse negotiating team at ratification vote Tuesday

Sutter Tracy RNs had to build a contract from scratch for their first union agreement, including establishment of a nurse-selected committee to meet with management to address patient care concerns, fair work scheduling, job security, and disciplinary practices, and employer paid health coverage.

The Tracy contract features a fair compensation system based on years of service, not an arbitrary system based on supervisor discretion. All nurses will win pay increases of 20 to 25 percent over the next four years which,, the RNs say, is critical to ensuring proper retention of experienced RNs and recruitment of new nurses.

Further, the first contract includes safe patient handling measures to assure tha hospital provides adequate personnel training to reduce patient falls and nurse injuries, enforceable language to assure nurses can take meal and rest breaks without leaving patient care areas under staffed, and language ro assure management will meet with a CNA RN committee to address staffing concerns.

Sutter Tracy RN and bargaining team member Victoria Lat

“This is a historic day,” said Sutter Tracy RN Victoria Lat. “Nurses are very excited to vote on a contract that will create equity and allow them to safely advocate for their patients.”

At Sutter Lakeside, after 20 months of bargaining, RNs will each earn a 16 percent wage increase over four years along with improvements in dental and vision health coverage, and in long term disability benefit. As in other CNA-Sutter negotiations, they also succeeded in winning withdrawal of management demands for contract cuts, especially in health coverage. The RNs will vote on the pact December 30.

Talks are also beginning, or continuing for Sutter CNA represented RNs at three Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Berkeley and Oakland, three California Pacific Medical Center hospitals in San Francisco (St. Luke’s, California, and Pacific), Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, Mills Peninsula Health Services facilities in Burlingame and San Mateo, Novato Community Hospital, Sutter Delta in Antioch, Sutter Santa Cruz (a visiting nurses home health service), Sutter Santa Rosa, and Sutter Solano in Vallejo.