Strike appears near for UC nurses

By Dexter Gauntlett and Sabrina
Singhapattanapong
DAILY BRUIN STAFF
[email protected]
[email protected]

Registered nurses at University of California medical centers
and student health centers voted to strike if their demands for
policy changes aren’t met at Monday’s contract
negotiations.

This would mark the first ever UC nurse strike in the 18-year
history of UC-California Nurses Association.

Negotiations have gone on the past few months, with the primary
points of contention focusing on wage increase criteria, mandatory
overtime and staffing requirements for patient safety.

A strike looks almost certain, said CNA spokesman Charles
Idelson.

While 95 percent of nurses who voted Tuesday and Wednesday
indicated a preference to strike, not all nurses voted, said UC
spokesman Paul Schwartz.

The UC is offering a 13.5 percent wage increase over two years.
The systemwide average increase includes wage increases based on
merit, increases for additional pay such as weekend pay, and also
takes market rate comparability into account, according to
Schwartz.

If the 8,000 nurses at the five UC medical centers, including
UCLA, decide to strike, the UC is prepared, Schwartz said.

“All UC medical locations have contingency plans that
would be activated in such an event,” he said. “Such
plans may require UC to reduce services temporarily.”

University nurses ““ who treat some of the state’s
sickest and poorest ““ are requesting a shift from the
merit-based system, which puts responsibility on managers to set
salaries and decide promotions, to an experience-based system that
establishes pay based on seniority and years of service.

“Nurses want a fair compensation system not based on
arbitrary and capricious evaluation by managers,” Idelson
said.

According to CNA, the merit system is not installed in other
hospitals, a contrast that makes it difficult to recruit and retain
the most experienced nurses.

“Historically, there have been some injustices
done,” said Gloria Scheibel, a UCLA nurse of 25 years.
“That’s why they’re pushing to get rid of the
merit system.”

But the university’s “whole approach is the
merit-based approach,” Schwartz said.

But nurses are pleased that the existing merit-based system has
“very loyal” nurses that are excellent and have been
with the university for a long time, Schwartz said.

“We believe that’s the most effective and most
appropriate way to properly reward nurses who deliver excellent
nursing and quality patient care,” he said.

Another point of contention for the nurses is mandatory
overtime. Currently, nurses who refuse to work overtime ““
which can range from a few hours to 24 ““ can be subject to
disciplinary actions or job termination.

Idelson said the concern is patient safety, saying it is
dangerous for patients when exhausted nurses are forced to make
critical decisions.

“Mandatory overtime and mandatory on-call assignments are,
to some degree, hospital realities,” Schwartz said.
“The goal is to minimize them, which is what our proposals
seek to do.”

Idelson said they are pushing to restrict mandatory overtime to
publicly declared emergencies, such as earthquakes, or as ordained
by the state or federal government.

CNA also seeks to expedite current legislation that will reduce
nurse-to-patient ratios.

The law states that in the event of a strike, the union would
have to give a 10-day advance notice to the hospital so it could
reschedule surgeries. Though most nurses would be paid during the
strike, those who would be on “emergency call” would
not receive pay.

“We hope that they are willing to compromise as
well,” Schwartz said. “In fact, they are going to need
to if we are going to get a contract settlement.”