New Three-Year Pact Means Important Improvements for 17,000 California Kaiser RNs in 61 Facilities

OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United and Kaiser Permanente have tentatively agreed to a new three-year contract with significant improvements for 17,000 registered nurses and nurse practitioners in 21 hospitals and 40 medical office buildings across Northern and Central California, CNA/NNU announced today.

Key features of the collective bargaining agreement between CNA/NNU and the large hospital system include more than 20 important professional and economic enhancements, and significantly, no reductions in patient care protections or economic or professional practice standards.

These achievements, possible in a state with minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, a law sponsored by CNA/NNU, with one of the nation's largest healthcare systems, are especially notable, said CNA/NNU leaders.

CNA/NNU said today that it is withholding additional details of the tentative agreement pending 26 ratification meetings of Kaiser RNs and NPs to be held throughout the region in the next few weeks.

"We are very pleased to recommend this tentative agreement to Kaiser RNs and NPs," said Zenei Cortez, RN, who chairs the Kaiser CNA/NNU bargaining team and is also a co-president of CNA/NNU.

"This proposal protects our patients, defends our hard-fought economic and practice standards in a tough economic environment, and demonstrates again the strength of our professional union, CNA/NNU, and the unity of Kaiser nurses," Cortez said.

NNU Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro congratulated the Kaiser nurses and Kaiser executives "for their forward thinking in achieving an agreement that promotes and expands nurses' and patient standards rather than engaging in a short-sighted confrontation and unneeded concessions. This settlement encourages nurse retention and recruitment for Kaiser, is a boon to patient care, and sends a message to other employers about what is possible."

SOURCE California Nurses Association

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