Nurses Accept 3-Year Contract at St. Johns Hospitals

Registered nurses at St. Johns hospitals in Camarillo and Oxnard have voted to accept a labor contract giving them a greater say in staffing, a 4% salary increase during each of the next three years and a freeze in the cost of their health benefits.

The deal also forbids further strikes by nurses for the life of the three-year contract. The hospital will become a closed shop, meaning any new nurses hired must pay union dues whether they care to join the union or not.

“It’s a remarkable contract; the nurses should be extremely proud of what they achieved,” said Lisa Hubbard, spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, which represents the 350 registered nurses at the two hospitals. “They have one of the finest collective bargaining contracts in the state.”

Beginning nurses make about $18 an hour while the most experienced nurses can earn $29 per hour. The 4% raise is about $1 an hour more each year, said Susan Franks, a nurse at St. Johns Regional Medical Center in Oxnard who sits on the union’s bargaining committee.

Nurses also negotiated more overtime pay, scheduling flexibility--including guaranteed 12-hour shifts--and a job bidding system based on seniority. Many nurses prefer 12-hour shifts because it means a three-day work week.

Franks said 85% of the nurses voted to accept the contract. She would not reveal how many total votes were cast Wednesday and Thursday.

Franks said her sole disappointment was the union’s failure to win free health benefits for nurses, who now pay $22 each month for health benefits.

Still, she was impressed by how far they had come since unionizing in January 2000.

“When we started out we were at-will employees and now we cannot be terminated without just cause,” she said. “Nurses will be able to speak up without fear of retaliation. I think St. Johns has just become the best place for a nurse to work and patients to go in the county.”

She said the deal will help recruit and retain nurses in the future.

The nurses struck in December for two weeks over staffing issues. Another threatened strike in February was called off. Earlier this month, they struck again for four days. The hospital administration then put forward what it called its last, best deal and the union accepted.

“I think our folks have worked very hard to give them the best contract,” said Armando Azarloza, a hospital spokesman. “It’s a good, fair deal for everyone concerned.”