• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

This Morning, SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West Reached Tentative Agreement With Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland and Berkeley

Posted on: Thursday, 9 February 2006, 15:00 CST

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- This morning after 16 hours of marathon negotiations, the bargaining team for SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW) members at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center reached a tentative agreement for settlement with their employer. 1200 UHW members who work as Licensed Vocational Nurses, Certified Nursing Assistants, Dietary Aides and other caregiver classifications at ABSMC, have been working without a contract since the previous agreement expired on April 30, 2004. This morning's tentative agreement features the same industry standard workplace rights and benefits achieved after nine weeks of strike at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. The full UHW membership at ABSMC is scheduled to vote whether to ratify the contract on Tuesday, February 14th.

"I commend the hospital for agreeing to an industry standard contract that will make a real difference in the quality of care we are able to give patients. We now have a voice in staffing, a training and upgrade fund, and the right for other healthcare workers to join UHW without management interference," said Deborah Kirtman, who has worked as a dietary aide at Sutter-owned ABSMC for 28 years. "This is the beginning of a new day at Alta Bates Summit. We are now up to par with every other major hospital system in Northern California."

UHW caregivers' tentative agreement contains several industry standard proposals in line with the workplace rights and benefits recognized at nearly every other Northern California hospital system, including Kaiser, Catholic Healthcare West, and Daughters of Charity. Foremost, the new settlement offers third party arbitration to resolve staffing disputes between management and hospital workers and ensure all ABSMC hospital floors are supported by an adequate number of caregivers. The contract agreement also affords UHW members a training and upgrade fund to encourage career advancement. Caregivers also secured the right to a fast and fair NLRB election for non-unionized hospital workers who wish to join UHW without interference from hospital management.

The contract also features 22% wage increases for Licensed Vocational Nurses over the life of the contract. The rest of the UHW membership receives 17% wage increases over the life of the contract. The contract is set to expire on June 30, 2008, a date held in common with Sutter-owned CPMC, Sutter Roseville Medical Center, and St. Luke's Hospital.

"Patients are the real winners of this tentative agreement. They will now be served by caregivers who have a real voice in staffing and access to a training and upgrade fund. The agreement also requires ABSMC to spend dollars on patient care, not fighting workers who desire to join our union," said Sal Rosselli, president of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West.

SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West, with more than 140,000 members, is the largest and most powerful healthcare union in the Western U.S. We represent every type of healthcare worker, including nursing, professional, technical and service classifications. Our mission is to achieve high quality healthcare for all.

Contact: Thea Lavin c.510-520-7732

SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West

CONTACT: Thea Lavin of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West,+1-510-520-7732

Web site: http://www.seiu-uhw.org/

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category