VENTURA : Nurses Approve Wage Agreement

Nurses at Ventura County Medical Center have approved a pay agreement that would end a bitter two-month dispute with hospital administrators, and the Board of Supervisors will consider the new contract Tuesday.

Under the agreement, approved overwhelmingly Monday night by the nurses, the county will pay about 115 nurses who work 12-hour shifts almost the same as they now receive. They had faced a 4% cut in take-home pay.

“Given the circumstances, it’s a fair settlement,” said Barry Hammitt, executive director of the Public Employees Assn. of Ventura County, who negotiated the agreement for the nurses.

Overtime for the 12-hour shifts has been the center of controversy since August. Hospital officials said they wanted to switch the hours of the nurses who worked the extended shifts to put their salaries more in line with those at other hospitals.

The hospital proposed doing away with overtime pay and increasing the hourly wage from $16.86 to $18.73. But nurses, who receive four hours of overtime pay for each 12-hour shift, said they now average $19.67 an hour when the overtime is figured in.

Under the agreement, overtime would be eliminated and those nurses would receive $19.21 an hour, Hammitt said. However, they would receive other compensation boosting sick, vacation and holiday pay.

Before the agreement, the nurses had contended that elimination of the overtime would create a financial burden because they have planned their mortgages and household budgets with the higher wage for years.

The nurses, many of whom originally were asked to work the long shifts because of a labor shortage three years ago, took their complaints to the streets with picketing and to the Board of Supervisors.

After state mediation broke down, the board ordered new talks last week, which led to the tentative agreement.

The supervisors will consider the agreement Tuesday, but final ratification would not occur until Oct. 22.