UC Nurses Drop Strike

Nurses at the University of California’s five medical centers canceled a planned strike after reaching a tentative agreement Friday on a new contract

Union officials called the agreement historic and predicted that it would have a major impact on recruitment and retention of nurses, not just in the prestigious medical system but across the state.

Under the accord, which will be voted on June 3 by the system’s 8,000 nurses, UC would pay nurses based on seniority and boost salaries an average of 19% to 25% over the next three years. It would do away with the merit-based pay system nurses have battled.

“This will make life in the hospital better for everyone, patient and nurse,” said Maxine Terk, a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at UCLA. “This is a historic event. Never before have we achieved such monumental advancement for nurses and patient care.”

Friday’s celebrations marked a dramatic about-face in negotiations that had been marked by anger, bitterness and charges of unfair practices on both sides.

Earlier this month, the nurses--who work in medical centers at UC Davis, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Francisco and UC San Diego--had voted to authorize a one-day walkout Wednesday that could have been followed by an open-ended strike.

UC officials had said the action might force them to close trauma centers and had begun seeking replacement nurses, offering wages of $1,000 a day.

UC also had requested a temporary restraining order against the strike.

On Monday, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and more than 40 members of the Legislature signed a letter to the UC administration calling on them to resolve the dispute.

UC officials said that did not play a significant role in the settlement.

“What got us to an agreement was us working out our differences across the bargaining table,” said UC spokesman Paul Schwartz.

As part of the accord, the California Nurses Assn. agreed to drop its unfair practices charge, and the university said it would withdraw its request for a restraining order and drop its unfair labor charge.

In a statement, Joseph P. Mullinix, senior vice president for business and finance for the university, said the agreement “benefits everyone, especially patients.”

A major sticking point in negotiations had been the university’s desire to keep in place a merit-based pay system. The nurses union said merit pay penalizes senior nurses.

In a compromise, the university will do away with the merit system by offering lump-sum rewards for good performance. Both sides also reached a compromise on staffing ratios.

Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the nurses union, which represents nearly 45,000 nurses across the state, said it now will now try to “get every other hospital to do this too.”

“We think this is the answer to the nursing shortage,” she said. “We’re going to be rolling out a whole program.”