St. John’s Nurses Voting on Contract

Registered nurses at St. John’s hospitals in Oxnard and Camarillo were voting late Thursday on a contract that would end a series of strikes that began last December.

The 350-member union started voting Wednesday and was expected to finish late Thursday. The contract provides a 4% raise each year over the next three years, freezes the price of health benefits and gives nurses a much bigger say on staffing issues.

The Service Employees International Union didn’t tell nurses how to vote on the contract. They are pleased with the staffing areas of the contract and the raise but also want free health care benefits for nurses and better retirement plans.

“If it doesn’t pass, then we’ll go back to the table and probably to longer and more intense strikes,” said Susan Franks, a nurse and member of the union’s negotiating committee.

The first strike in December was over staffing and it lasted for two weeks. The subsequent strikes lasted three or four days and dealt with pay raises and issues of health benefits.

“The truth is we have an excellent contract,” said Franks, who works at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. “But it’s not excellent in all areas.”