California Nurses Association and Tenet Healthcare Reach Agreement

[pickledpepperRN]

http://www.calnurse.org/cna/press/

California Nurses Association and Tenet Healthcare Reach Agreement

On Stronger Voice for RNs on Patient Protections and Fair Elections

California's largest RN organization and hospital system - Tenet Healthcare Corporation and the California Nurses Association - have reached a groundbreaking agreement providing a framework for RNs to have an increased voice in patient protections in Tenet hospitals and fair, expedited elections.

The agreement, approved Tuesday by the CNA RN Statewide Tenet Council, comprised of representatives of RNs at 26 Tenet hospitals, is a major breakthrough for Tenet RNs.

It provides for expedited fair elections ending months of delays that have held up secret ballot elections for Tenet RNs, and establishes assurances of a strong independent patient advocacy voice and the first ever retiree health benefits for Tenet RNs who choose to join CNA. Non-union Tenet RNs will be able to vote within the next five months on affiliation with CNA or any other union of their choice.

The announcement follows the settlement announced Tuesday of a 13-month strike by CNA-represented RNs at Tenet's Doctors Medical Center in Contra Costa County, Ca. Doctors RNs ratified the strike settlement agreement on Monday which provides improved retirement benefits that set a new standard for RNs in Tenet.

'A monumental achievement for Tenet RNs'

"This agreement is a monumental achievement for Tenet RNs who have emphatically demonstrated their desire for fair elections and an opportunity to join with CNA to improve standards for their colleagues and patients," said CNA President Deborah Burger, RN.

CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro commended Tenet's top administrators for their "genuine desire to resolve our differences in an even handed manner that respects the aspirations of their RNs and their commitment to work with CNA and the RNs to enhance the patient care environment and promote the role of RNs in Tenet hospitals."

CNA and Tenet, which have had substantial differences over several years, opened negotiations in recent months at the request of California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and with the assistance of AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka.

In a statement today, Lockyer welcomed the announcement. "I'm glad my office could play a useful role in helping Tenet Healthcare reach an agreement that will give its CNA employees a collective voice in speaking up for quality patient care and fair labor practices." Locker added that the strike settlement "paved the way for the national agreement between Tenet and CNA and signals a strong commitment by nurses and corporate management to work together to provide quality health care for patients."

"The agreement we have been able to negotiate is huge. It has come about through the tenacity and collective strength of our RNs and our organization," said Sherri Stoddard, RN, chair of CNA's Statewide Tenet Council. "For Tenet nurses," said Stoddard, who works at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo," this agreement acknowledges our importance and strength in our workplaces and allows us to collectively advocate for the quality of care each of our patients deserves."

"The CNA/Tenet Contract is a positive step for Tenet RNs," said Sue Gorney, RN, Alvarado Medical Center, a member of the CNA RN Tenet Statewide Council. "This contract is a unifying force for the RNs to have a voice in improved patient care. It is a starting point for improved pay and benefits. It will be a major step forward in retaining skilled Tenet nurses. My belief is that this contract will be a foundation for safe patient care and respect for the Tenet RNs."

Edie Rozario, RN, Doctor's Medical Center, Modesto and a Statewide Council member said that

"RNs at Tenet now have the opportunity to move forward to provide the highest standard of patient care. Only through joining CNA will we have the collective power to enforce safe staffing ratios, give the RNs a voice in patient care decisions and provide benefits to retain experienced RNs."

"This agreement of CNA/Tenet is a start for us to achieve our goals," said Statewide Council member Feli Sanchez, RN, Brotman Medical Center. This will provide us the opportunity to have an election, and to achieve improvements to allow us to take better care of our patients."

Components of the agreement include:

* Immediate elections by the end of April for non-union RNs at 22 non-union Tenet hospitals. The RNs will be free to vote for CNA or any other union that qualifies for the ballot - and the election will be held in an atmosphere free of coercion or intimidation. The CNA-Tenet pact coincides with a separate cooperation accord between CNA and the Service Employees International Union under which SEIU will support CNA representation campaigns for RNs and CNA will support SEIU campaigns for other healthcare employees in California.

* Minimum standards in a statewide Tenet RN contract for RNs who vote for CNA representation, based on direction from the CNA RN Statewide Tenet Council. Standards include 22% pay increases over three years and a new retiree health benefit, funded solely by Tenet contributions, to help pay for medical costs after retirement. Facility issues are to be negotiated by facility-based RN bargaining teams.

* Enhanced staffing standards, including independent RN patient care committees of direct care RNs elected by their peers to enforce safe staffing and patient advocacy issues, with an independent binding arbitration process to resolve staffing ratio disputes. Elected RN committees at every Tenet hospital to address ways of reducing turnover and encouraging retention of experienced RNs including compensation programs designed to eliminate wage inequities and enhance compensation based on seniority and experience.

* A statewide Patient Care Advocacy Forum with regular meetings between Tenet officials and bedside Tenet RNs representing CNA's RN Statewide Council, to address issues involving patient care and RN educational initiatives.

* Tenet RNs will have full patient advocacy rights and the ability to differ publicly with Tenet on public policy issues, legislative proposals and other matters.

CNA is the largest organization of California RNs representing 55,000 RNs in 150 California facilities, including four Tenet hospitals, and is the largest independent RN union in the U.S.

[pickledpepperRN]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tenet18dec18,1,1773987.story

Tenet Signs Contract With Union for Nurses

The deal, which grants pay raises in each of the next three years, comes amid an RN shortage.

By Debora Vrana, Times Staff Writer

Tenet Healthcare Corp. said Wednesday that it signed a pact with California's largest registered nurses union, a move aimed at buying labor peace and helping the troubled hospital company meet the mandates of a new state law on nurse staffing.

Under the accord with the California Nurses Assn., Tenet said, CNA nurses at Tenet hospitals in the state would receive pay raises of 8% in the first year and 7% in the next two years.

In exchange, the San Francisco-based nurses' union-one of Tenet's harshest critics during the last year-agreed to a six-year no-strike provision and mandatory arbitration of disputes.

The terms of the agreement will take effect immediately at five Tenet hospitals that are represented by the CNA and would apply to other Tenet hospitals in the state that the nurses' association organizes.

The CNA has filed petitions to unionize 19 Tenet hospitals in California, and the labor pact essentially paves the way for their organizing.

Tenet owns about 40 hospitals in the state, mostly in Southern California, and has 32,000 employees, including 9,800 registered nurses.

Last spring, Tenet struck a similar labor agreement with two other unions, drawing the wrath of the CNA, which accused the Santa Barbara-based hospital chain of illegally sidling up to the Service Employees International Union, a longtime rival of the CNA.

Earlier this week, the SEIU and the CNA announced they had put aside decades of differences and would join forces to protect nurse staffing levels and help settle corporate labor disputes. They also agreed to divide up representation, with the CNA representing registered nurses and the SEIU representing other types of nurses.

Wall Street analysts said Wednesday's agreement would give Tenet long-term labor stability despite some added costs. "This is a positive for the company as it makes the nurse labor situation calmer for Tenet, but it also means wage increases next year," said Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst with Fulcrum Global Partners in New York.

Tenet and California's other hospital chains long have been struggling with a nationwide shortage of nurses. Beginning next year, hospitals in the state must comply with new minimum staffing requirements. Tenet has said it needed to hire about 1,000 more nurses to comply with the law.

"The bottom line is that we will be able to meet the nurse staffing ratio, either by hiring more nurses or by adjusting health-care services," said Steven Campanini, a spokesman for Tenet.

Tenet said that as part of the new union agreement, it would allow expedited union elections in the first half of next year. The CNA, which just ended a yearlong strike at a Tenet hospital in San Pablo this week, had accused the hospital operator of trying to block its organizing efforts.

On Wednesday, Charles Idelson, spokesman for the CNA, said the agreement gave registered nurses at Tenet hospitals "a dramatically strengthened voice, which is very important for patients."

Tenet's stock closed down 9 cents at $14.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock has declined about 70% since late last year when the first of several scandals broke at the company, including an investigation into whether the company overbilled the government for health-care charges.

[Katerina]

Thank you for the update spacenurse. :)