Health-Care Staff to Vote on Work Conditions

Health-care workers here will be asked to vote this week on a contract that will give them wage increases and influence over their working environment.

The vote, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, will mark the end of a labor dispute involving workers at Bay Area hospitals and more than a year of negotiations, including two strikes.

Service Employees International Union Local 250, which represents nurse assistants, pharmacy technicians, food service workers, housekeepers and other employees at San Jose Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital and Regional Medical Center, said Sunday it had reached an agreement with Hospital Corp. of America, which owns the three hospitals.

The tentative contract includes salary increases from 13% to 60% over a three-year period, depending on the position.