National Nurses United

NewsBriefs:2 4/24/08 1:19 AM Page 4 NewsBriefs UC RNS FIGHT OFF TAKEAWAYS, WIN NEW CONTRACT fter 11 months of bargaining and fact-finding, University of California nurses walked away with a great victory last month: a progressive contract which satisfactorily addressed long-standing issues with patient safety, retiree benefits, staffing procedures, and paid leave. The contract, reached in settlement on March 15, was approved by an overwhelming majority of UC RNs in votes that took place at UC facilities and student health centers throughout the state during the week of March 17, and was effective immediately as of ratification. "We are very happy with our new contract," says Geri Jenkins, RN, a UCSD nurse, UC bargaining team member, and member of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents. "We have won the kind of patient care and staffing protections that will allow us to retain the high-caliber, experienced RNs needed to provide the quality care needed for our complex patient population." Easily one of the most incendiary points of contention was UC's proposed paid time off (PTO) policy, which UC RNs claim was designed to force sick nurses to come to work. Under the PTO scheme, RNs calling in sick would be forced to use 24 hours of vacation time before being allowed access to sick leave. RNs who risk losing vacation hours are more likely to come to work despite feeling unwell, UC bargaining team members argued, an action that, at best, would spread illness to colleagues, and could be devastating in a hospital setting, where RNs could risk infecting patients with compromised immune systems. Throughout the bargaining and fact-finding process, PTO remained a catalyst around which UC RN activists rallied. In an October 2007 bargaining session with UC negotiators, RNs stood up and removed sweaters and jackets to reveal matching red T-shirts, each printed with a letter. Standing together in a line, the RNs' shirts spelled out a clear message to UC: NO TO PTO. UC finally embraced that message with last month's contract settlement, conceding to the nurses' demands to scrap the ill-advised PTO policy. A 4 REGISTERED NURSE Also unique to UC bargaining was the issue of mandatory shift rotation, a practice long since abandoned by other healthcare facilities in California. At UCSF and UCLA, the only facilities still enforcing mandatory shift rotation, RNs were forced to alternate between periods of working day shift and periods of working night shift, regardless of seniority. Shift rotation is "very, very unsafe," according to CNA/NNOC UC Division Director Beth Kean. Just as missing meal or rest breaks can harm patient care, mandatory shift rotation has been "shown to reduce RN alertness and increase medication errors," says James Darby, RN, who works at UCSF. The new contract provides major protections against shift rotations, requiring RNs to rotate shifts only "to ensure proper skill/competency mixes on each shift," and excluding all RNs with more than 10 years of seniority beginning Sept. 1, 2008. This progress "ensures that patient needs are considered," Darby says. Echoing a growing concern among California's state employees, the bargaining team's victory included the securing of retiree pensions and health benefits. Main- taining an excellent standard for UC retirees was important because "high-quality publicsector retiree benefits are usually what attract many nurses to work at UC," explains Kean. Despite UC's attempts to institute regressive cuts in retiree benefits, the new contract maintains high-quality benefits for 2008. Also reflecting a topical concern were significant inroads made on the issue of healthcare benefits for both working RNs and retirees. Nurse negotiators were able to successfully shut down UC's controversial "wellness" program, which would have required RNs to fill out extensive and exhaustive questionnaires about their medical histories and current health issues, to be shared with insurance providers. In the face of America's quicklyevolving healthcare crisis, such programs are an insidious way for insurers to explore new avenues for denials and increased out-ofpocket costs. A similar proposal by Sutter Health is one of the key issues behind Sutter RNs' recent 10-day strike (see page 6). The UC contract addresses wage disparities at UC Irvine and UCSD, whose RNs are the lowest paid in the UC system, despite CALIFORNIA W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G APRIL 2008

• Cover