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10 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 1 WRAP-UP REPORT California ALAMEDA HOSPITAL AND SAN LEANDRO HOSPITAL registered nurses at Alameda Hospital in Alameda, Calif. and San Leandro Hospital in San Leandro, Calif., ratified a pair of col- lective bargaining agreements in March that will improve their ability to provide safe patient care as well as recruit and retain experienced nurses at these two public facili- ties. These new labor contracts conclude a years-long series of negotiations that included two RN strikes, the ousting of the former trustees, and other actions to protest management's bad-faith bargaining in addi- tion to unsafe workplace conditions that jeopardize the safety of nurses and patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. The contracts cover about 175 registered nurses at Alameda Hospital and 150 regis- tered nurses at San Leandro Hospital. Both facilities are managed by Alameda Health System (AHS). The new contracts include improved staffing provisions, as well as rejects man- agement's proposed reduction of representatives and the rights of the profes- sional performance committee. The ratified pacts also retain retiree health insurance, education leave, assignment of extra shifts based on seniority, and RN licensure & cer- tification protections. Both contracts include a 14.5 percent pay increase for the term of the deal. That includes an across- the-board 2.5 percent pay increase retroactive to January 2019, a 3 percent increase within 60 days of the ratification date, and a 3 percent increase in October. ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER registered nurses at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, Calif., held an informa- tional picket in May to protest management's refusal to address issues of safe staffing, infection control protocols for safe patient care during the pandemic, or hospital preparedness for natural disasters. California Nurses Association represents 1,000 nurses at Enloe who have been in bargaining for a new contract since October 2020. The current agreement expired in March 2021. "Over this past year, PPE safety guide- lines have been relaxed for a new unknown virus," said Lisa Ceynowa, RN in the med- ical-neuro unit. "Wildfires are also a regular occurrence in our area, and we need to be prepared with enough N95s on hand for staff. Keeping three months of PPE on hand and following rigorous scientific protocols for safety should be in our contract." SAN JOAQUIN GENERAL HOSPITAL in april, rns at San Joaquin General Hos- pital in French Camp, Calif., overwhelmingly ratified a new two-year contract, winning protections to improve patient safety. The agreement is the result of a long and pro- tracted fight that included two years of bargaining, an informational picket in July 2019, a two-day strike in March 2020, and a five-day strike in October 2020. The nurses also called off a three-day strike that was set to start on Feb. 27, 2021. A tentative agreement was reached in April between CNA and the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors and then the board voted to approve the contract at its April 20, 2021 board meeting. "We are proud that we stayed united during this long fight," said Fazia Rich- mond, RN in the ICU step-down unit and a member of the bargaining team. "We didn't give up, even during the pandemic, because we are committed to our patients and the community. We wanted to make sure nurses would have the personal pro- tective equipment we need to do our jobs safely. And we won protections that are so important for our patients and for safe staffing." Illinois chicago rns at Community First Medical Center held a virtual press conference and an in-person picket in April to alert the pub- lic to a variety of alarming state and federal violations that nurses say jeopardize patient safety. "At least 60 of our nurses have become ill, and three have died, since the start of the pandemic as we have been working without appropriate personal protective equipment and struggling to make do with broken equipment, and without adequate supplies," said Kathy Haff, RN. Nurses have documented what they believe to be numerous safety violations and employment law violations at Community First Medical Center and are calling for investigations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois Department of Labor, and the Illinois attor- ney general's office. —Staff report From left: Enloe nurses in Chico, Calif. picket for patient safety; Community First nurses in Chicago raise the alarm on numerous state and federal safety violations they say jeopardize patient and nurse safety. NEWS BRIEFS