LONG BEACH — Long Beach Memorial Medical Center nurses will receive pay raises averaging 20 percent over three years under a tentative agreement that also features elements to better assist nurses with patients, union officials said.
The staff of nearly 1,500 nurses will have until 9 tonight to vote on the agreement reached Friday by hospital officials and representatives of the California Nurses Association, said CNA chief negotiator Kristin Lynch.
If approved by a majority vote, the hospital would pay nurses at least 6 percent more the first year and 4 percent more in both the second and third years. However, the tentative agreement also calls for additional salary increments based on years of service and specialty.
"The nurses are very pleased," said Mary Bailey, chief nurse union representative and a 17-year veteran who works as a medical diabetic nurse. "It allows Memorial to go to the front of the line in nurse recruitment and retention, which is a key part of safe patient care."
A new element to the contract is a commitment to employ a "lift team" to help nurses turn over patients. Long Beach Memorial is among the first in Southern California to incorporate such language in a contract, union representatives said.
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_3240479
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