CALIFORNIA, USA — Northern California nurses and Kaiser Permanente reached a tentative agreement Thursday to avoid an upcoming strike.
Negotiations have taken place since June 2022 and now Northern California registered nurses and nurse practitioners will vote to ratify the new four-year contract in the next few weeks.
Here are some of the tentative agreements.
- Agreement to add 2,000 more nurses
- An increase in nurse staffing in Northern California by more than 2,000 more nurses to ease staffing shortages.
- Increased wages to reflect marketplace changes
- An increase in wages for Northern California nurses by 22.5% over a 4-year contract.
- Health and safety provisions
- A requirement to keep a three-month stockpile of PPE along with other personal protection protocols.
- Health benefit provisions
- No takeaways for pensions or retiree health. The agreement includes wage increases over four years.
“We are very pleased with this new contract, which will help us recruit new nurses and retain experienced RNs and nurse practitioners," said CNA President Cathy Kennedy, RN in the neonatal ICU at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center in a statement. "We not only won the biggest annual raises in 20 years, but we have also added more than 2,000 positions across our Northern California facilities. This will ensure safe staffing and better patient care."
This tentative agreement averts a two-day strike previously set to start Monday.
"Our nurses’ dedication to providing expert, compassionate care, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, has been nothing short of inspiring. This agreement demonstrates our commitment to continuing to provide excellent, market-based compensation and a work environment that supports well-being, safety, and professional opportunities for our nurses," Kaiser Permanente wrote in a statement.
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