Nurses' union says settlement ends its dispute with Kaiser Permanente

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

18,000 RNs gain 'stronger patient care voice' at Kaiser hospitals, union leaders say

1/17/15

... The agreement affects registered nurses and nurse practitioners who work in 86 Kaiser Permanente hospitals and clinics in Northern and Central California, from Santa Rosa to Fresno...

... "This is a great day for Kaiser patients and nurses," said Zenei Cortez, a nurse and chairwoman of the Kaiser RN bargaining team and a co-president of California Nurses Association.

"We have an agreement that will strengthen the ability of Kaiser RNs to provide the optimal level of care our patients deserve, while establishing additional security for nurses. I am so proud of the Kaiser RNs and NPs who worked so hard for so long for this day."

"This agreement is a great achievement," added Diane McClure, a Sacramento Kaiser RN and nurse negotiator. "We are especially excited about the expanded opportunity for new RN grads and trainees in Kaiser and the protections this agreement offers for RNs and our families."

The union leaders said that major components of the agreement include:

• Kaiser will hire hundreds of RNs which the nurses say should substantially improve the quality of care for hospitalized patients, as well as signaling a renewed commitment to RN training and employment opportunities for new RN graduates at a time many hospitals have frozen RN hires.
  
• Groundbreaking workplace protections for nurses from workplace violence to infectious diseases like Ebola to needle stick injuries.
  
• Substantial economic gains for RNs and NPs, many of them the sole source of income for their families or extended families. Over the three years of the agreement, all the nurses will receive 14 percent pay increases through across the board hikes and lump sum payments.
  
• Additional long-term retirement security for Kaiser RNs and NPs through maintenance of a secure pension plan plus a substantial increase in employer contributions to the nurses' 401k pension plans for the 87 percent of Kaiser RNs with those plans.
  
• Annual paid release time, the first in the nation, for 25 RNs every year to participate in NNU's disaster relief program, the Registered Nurse Response Network, which has dispatched hundreds of RNs to provide basic medical services following U.S. and global disasters from Hurricane Katrina to the Haiti earthquake to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
  

Nurses' union says settlement ends its dispute with Kaiser Permanente | News | PleasantonWeekly.com |

[Sisyphus]

Go RoseAnn!

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

They are getting almost 5% yearly raises. I think that is a victory and rare these days where no raise or 2-3% a year is the norm! Wish I belonged to their union!

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

They are getting almost 5% yearly raises. I think that is a victory and rare these days where no raise or 2-3% a year is the norm! Wish I belonged to their union!

The NNU is free to join outside of CA, feel free to sign up!

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

California here I come! Sigh, if only it were that easy. Seriously though, great for them!

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Not easy, but worthwhile, in my opinion.

Thousands of nurses attend meetings, CE classes, and demonstrations. Hundreds are leaders at their facilities.

National Nurses United - CNA/NNU 101 -- 2013 edition

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Kaiser RNs Begin Voting on New 3-Year Agreement

1/20/15

... As the largest RN contract in the U.S., this agreement is expected to elevate nursing standards and workplace conditions across the nation, nursing officials said.

Nurse negotiators for the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which represents 18,000 RNs and NPs in those Kaiser facilities, are recommending approval of the new pact that also provides for significant economic gains and additional retirement security.

Nurses began voting on the agreement Tuesday in San Jose, meetings at all 21 Kaiser hospitals in the region continue through Friday. A strike that had been called for Wednesday and Thursday of this week has been cancelled...

Kaiser nurses begin voting on new contract - ContraCostaTimes.com

Kaiser RNs in South San Francisco kick off voting on new agreement

[toomuchbaloney]

Well done!

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

In Overwhelming Vote Kaiser RNs OK New Pact

Monday, 02 February 2015

Registered nurses and nurse practitioners who work at 21 Kaiser Permanente hospitals and 65 clinics across Northern and Central California, the largest nurses' collective bargaining contract in the U.S., have voted to approve a new three-year agreement that provides for substantial improvements in patient care, health and safety protections for nurses, and economic gains.

The pact was overwhelmingly approved in membership meetings held Tuesday through Friday last week from Santa Rosa to Fresno. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United represents 18,000 Kaiser RNs and NPs, part of an overall membership of 185,000 RNs nationally in NNU, the largest U.S. organization of nurses...

In Overwhelming Vote Kaiser RNs OK New Pact