UC, nurse reach contract agreement

By Noah Grand
DAILY BRUIN REPORTER
[email protected]

After four months of negotiation, the California Nurses
Association and the University of California have reached a
three-year contract agreement.

The new contract eliminates merit-based pay increases and
replaces them with a seniority system, one of the union’s
main demands.

The contract covers the approximately 8,000 nurses working at
the UC’s five medical centers, including the UCLA Medical
Center.

“Nurses have expressed very positive feelings about the
agreement,” said Maxine Terk, UCLA nurse negotiator.

The contract provides pay raises of 19 to 25 percent over three
years, varying by campus. Nurses at UCLA will receive an increase
of 23.4 percent.

Under the previously-used, merit-based pay system, an
employee’s pay raises are based on a supervisors review of
their performance.

“It was implemented in a completely subjective, unfair
manner,” Terk said.

UC spokesman Paul Schwartz said the university remains committed
to being able to provide financial rewards for good
performance.

However, the UC compromised and instituted a system of steps, in
which payment is based on a nurse’s experience and tenure at
the UC.

Terk said this is a “huge achievement” for nurses,
as it lets them know how much money they will make from year to
year.

Determining a minimum nurse-to-patient ratio was another goal
for the union.

The union said that higher ratios reduce the quality of health
care and drive nurses to quit.

Schwartz said putting anything about staffing ratios into the
contract was premature, as the state will determine ratios for all
hospitals in July 2003.

The two sides agreed to form a joint committee to advise UC
hospitals on how to implement the ratios.

Overall, Terk said that this agreement will be good for both the
union and the hospitals. Without this contract, Terk said many
nurses would have left UC hospitals.

“The University of California should be proud that they
were able to offer this generous contract to their nurses,”
Terk said.

Schwartz said he is pleased that the contract lasts for three
years, which could hopefully promote a period of labor peace.