National Nurses United

8 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 J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 NEWS BRIEFS CALIFORNIA W ith a record turnout at membership meetings, regis- tered nurses at Kaiser Perma- nente's Los Angeles Medical Center voted nearly unanimously Feb. 22 to approve a new collective bargaining agree- ment with the California Nurses Associa- tion/National Nurses United. Some 1,300 RNs are covered by the agree- ment, their first with CNA, that includes major economic improvements, protection of health coverage and their pensions, along with patient care contract protections. "We are happy to have won a historic contract for Kaiser nurses in Southern Cali- fornia," said Violeta Galinato, RN, a cardiac surgery unit nurse who served on the LAMC RN bargaining team. "With the protections that we've achieved, our patients are going to get better care. Nurses will no longer be forced to work tired and the improvement in working conditions will allow us to recruit and retain experienced staff." The settlement was won after 17 months of spirited negotiations and RN activism that included two short-term strikes and other actions. The agreement includes wage gains of up to 34 percent over four years, as well as securing the RNs' health coverage and employer-provided pensions. "We are enormously proud of the LAMC nurses who demonstrated over and over a spirit of collective unity to protect and improve standards for their patients and themselves," said CNA Co-President Zenei Cortez, RN, a Northern California Kaiser RN and chair of the statewide Kaiser bargaining council. CNA and NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro also praised "the resilience and determination of LAMC RNs as a model for the nation at a time of attacks on union rights, and demands for austerity budget cuts in healthcare and retirement security." Patient care provisions included estab- lishment of a Professional Practice Commit- tee of bedside RNs, elected by their peers, to meet with management to discuss patient care concerns in the hospital, and an agree- ment to prevent mandatory overtime assignments which can lead to nurse fatigue and patient accidents. Additionally, the proposed agreement includes language to limit the inappropriate floating of new RN hires to specialized hospital units for which they do not have clinical expertise, and the overutilization of travel nurses who do not have familiarity with the hospital or patients. —Staff report Kaiser LAMC nurses win hard-fought contract CALIFORNIA R egistered nurses who work at Kaiser Permanente facilities are already represented nearly 19,000 strong in the California Nurses Association, and they added some 550 new members into their ranks in February. These nurses work as patient care coordi- nators (PCC) in 21 Kaiser Permanente hospitals across Northern and Central Cali- fornia and voted in January to join CNA/NNU. In late February, the National Labor Rela- tions Board officially certified the 240-218 elec- tion victory, overruling objections by Kaiser. "I'm very excited to join CNA and get the strong voice that we deserve," said Margaret Lao, a PCC RN at Kaiser San Leandro. "We will now have a say in the decision-making processes that affect our patients, our colleagues, and our families." Patient care coordinators work as discharge planners and case managers who coordinate care planning after patients are released from the hospital to home or outpatient settings, as well as taking on patient care resource management and other review duties. "We are excited for the PCCs to finally have a collective voice through CNA and to welcome the PCCs into our CNA family," said CNA Co-President Zenei Cortez, a Kaiser RN and chair of the statewide Kaiser nurse bargaining council. "With the election now over, the PCCs can look forward to being a part of a strong union with a contract that will protect their health and retirement benefits, a fair wage scale, and the ability to work together to improve working and patient care conditions." —Staff report Kaiser patient care coordinator RNs unionize Kaiser nurses now 19,000 strong in CNA

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