County Nurses OK Two-Year Contract Offered by Mediator

Los Angeles County registered nurses, who staged a crippling three-day walkout at county-run hospitals last month before being forced to return to their jobs by a court order, have accepted a two-year contract offer proposed by a state mediator, union officials announced late Friday.

“It was a close vote, but it did come out in favor,” said Abby Haight, spokesperson for Local 660 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents the county’s 4,000 nurses.

The pact, which still must be adopted by the county Board of Supervisors, calls for a 14.5% wage increase over a two-year period--an offer similar to what the county had proposed and less than the 19.5% increase that the nurses had been seeking.

No Specifics on Vote

Haight refused to disclose the specific voting results or reveal how many nurses participated in the mail-in balloting held during the last two weeks. She did say, however, that four times as many nurses voted this time as did on the union’s previous contract settlement two years ago.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Dean Dana, contacted at home late Friday, termed the voting results “wonderful” and predicted the agreement would easily win approval from the five-member board.

“I’m very pleased the nurses have voted for the offer,” said Dana. “It’s a fair settlement and I’m elated.”

In all, Haight said, the agreement calls for an additional $2 million in wages than had been offered by county negotiators before the nurses hit the streets in late January.

The contract offer calls for senior nurses to receive an immediate 7.5% salary hike, raising their monthly pay from $2,451 to $2,746. The offer includes an increase in the monthly bonuses--from $80 to $110--for nurses who have been with the county for more than five years. It also provides for a new $80-a-month bonus for nurses who have served with the county for between three and five years, Haight said.

Still, she said, the contract’s terms fall well below those for registered nurses at private facilities. Nurses working for Kaiser Permanent hospitals, for example, would still make $192 a month more, Haight said.

The ratification vote came without any recommendation from the union leadership, which had expressed reservations about the contract package.

And in announcing the results, Haight said, “there is still a terrible problem with recruiting enough nurses . . . it’s still not enough to attract nurses away from community hospitals or keep people from being recruited away from the county.”

“But while the agreement does not solve the recruitment and retention problems,” she added, “it does represent an improvement in the county’s commitment to address staffing shortages among nurses.”

Among the new provisions, she explained, is a method to address emergency staffing shortages through the establishment of a list of nurses who would volunteer to work overtime and the establishment of relations with nursing registries.

Although the union members approved the basic settlement, formal contract language must still be drafted by attorneys before the pact is sent to the Board of Supervisors for a final ratification vote. That process could take another several weeks, according to Elliot Marcus, the county’s director of employee relations.

Must Be Approved

And both sides must still sit down again and approve the final contract.

But Marcus said Friday that he did not foresee any difficulties. “It’s unlikely that it would hold up the final agreement,” said Marcus, who called the contract proposal “an acceptable compromise.”

The nurses’ contract had expired last Oct. 1, and negotiations had dragged on for months before contract talks collapsed in January. The nurses then walked off their jobs for three days, creating havoc in public hospitals that play a particularly large role in serving the county’s low-income residents and emergency trauma patients.

At County-USC Medical Center, the strike forced hospital administrators to pare their patient count from 1,4000 to 800. Officials also diverted many emergency cases to private facilities and sent some non-critical patients home earlier than usual. Most of the county’s outpatient clinics were also forced to close.

The nurses returned to work only after Superior Court Judge Miriam Vogel issued a temporary restraining order to stop the strike. Vogel later extended the order on Feb. 18, prohibiting the nurses from resuming their walkout.

Before the judge’s order, union officials had warned that if the membership had rejected the contract offer and the court restraints were removed, the nurses would consider walking off their jobs again to try and pressure the county.

The nurses’ situation was being closely watched by a number of other county bargaining units represented by Local 660. The union represents 20 bargaining units and about half the county’s work force, said Marcus Friday. Those bargaining units--which include clerks, supervising deputy probation officers and attorneys--have been in negotiations but have yet to settle.

In all, about half the employees have settled contract negotiations, he added.

CONTRACT TERMS

WAGES: A 14.5% wage increase over a two-year period ending Sept. 30, 1989. Contract is retroactive to Oct. 1.

TIMING OF INCREASES: Immediate 7.5% hike when signed. An additional 2% on July 1; 4% on Jan. 1, 1989, and 1% on July 1, 1989.

BONUSES: $80 a month for nurses with the county for three to five years; $110 a month for nurses with the county for more than 5 years.

OTHER PROVISIONS: To address staffing shortages, establishment of list of nurses who will volunteer to work overtime.