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UC nurses hold the line for pensions, retiree health benefits with new contract CALIFORNIA t a time of increasing employer demands for sweeping concessions on retirement security, especially for public workers, registered nurses working at University of California hospitals and student health centers in November settled a contract with University officials that secures nurses' retirement as well as achieving important gains. In addition to rebuffing UC demands for substantial cuts in pensions and retiree health coverage for RNs—especially a demand for a two-tier proposal with huge cuts in pensions for newly hired RNs—the nurses also won significant improvements, including across-the-board pay increases of 16 percent over four years, plus up to 8 percent more in longevity steps for most RNs. The pact covers 12,000 RNs at major UC medical centers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento (UC Davis), San Diego, and Irvine, as well as UC student health centers A NOVEMBER 2013 in Berkeley, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. This is the third major settlement for the California Nurses Association/NNU since August, following agreements earlier this year with Sutter Health and Dignity Health hospitals protecting standards for over 27,000 California and Nevada RNs. Among the achievements of the various pacts— reversing concessionary spirals seen for far too many workers, protecting retirement security, and achieving breakthrough patient care and other gains. Under the settlement, UC RNs will continue to receive guaranteed UC pension benefits as well as maintaining their current UC-sponsored health coverage upon retirement, including early retirement, with levels of benefits based on age and years of service. "This is a contract we can be proud of— no takeaways, no two-tier pension, and some real gains that will aid our fight for the highest standard of patient care into the future," said CNA board member Janice Webb, RN at UC San Diego and chair of CNA's UC Statewide Bargaining Council. In addition to protecting retirement W W W. N AT I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G security for the RNs, the agreement contains significant economic improvements—annual 4 percent pay increases for all UC RNs, with most RNs eligible for up to 2 percent more each year based on years of service. The pact also strengthens UC patient care measures in several areas, including recommitting the University to provide lift teams for UC hospital patients to prevent patient falls and accidents and injuries to RNs. It also assures that CNA-represented RNs will select their direct-care RNs to sit on hospital committees that review and update patient classification systems which determine if RN staffing needs to be increased based on the severity of individual patient illness. The RNs urged UC to reach fair agreement for other UC staff, and off-duty RNs in November joined picket lines by other UC unions. "This fight was about UC keeping its promises to all current employees, and for equal pension benefits for those yet to come," said Shirley Toy, an RN at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. "We're proud to have set a standard that we hope other UC workers will be able to achieve as well." —Staff report N AT I O N A L N U R S E 9