Some University of California nurses will see double-digit wage increases during the next two years as part of a multiyear union contract agreement ratified earlier this week.
The contract, the first multiyear agreement in more than a decade, also includes pension protection, health benefits and breaks during shifts.
It provides an 11 percent wage increase for union members during a 26-month period.
The agreement includes more than 9,000 UC nurses, according to the UC Office of the President. After months of deliberation, the California Nurses Association ratified the new contract Monday.
UC nurses had worked without a contract since September.
The association hopes that the contract will lead to improved working conditions.
Understaffing and subsequent poor nurse-to-patient ratios are common problems in the profession, said Kyungsoon Hall, a registered nurse at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and a 30-year veteran in the field.
Without a contract stipulating exact guidelines for break times, many nurses worked 12-hour shifts without a break, Hall said.
And the high number of patients that seek out UC hospitals because of quality care can sometimes make the UC nurses’ job difficult, said Michael D. Jackson, a registered and emergency room nurse at UC San Diego and a member of the California Nurses Association bargaining team.
Under the new contract, nurses will be required to take breaks during shifts.
The new contract also guarantees at certain hospitals that senior nurses who have reached the maximum pay step a one-time payment to give their income a small boost, said UCOP spokeswoman Dianne Klein.
“We think it’s a very fair contract, and we are happy the nurses ratified it,” Klein said.
In recent years, relations between the UC and its nurses have been marked by threats of walkouts and unsuccessful attempts at reaching long-term contracts between the parties.
“We didn’t want to strike, that’s a last resort,” Jackson said. “We went to the table multiple times last year to reach a negotiation.”
A highly specialized skill set puts the UC nurses in an advantageous bargaining situation, Klein said.
“This is the first time we’ve signed a multiyear contract for a long time,” Jackson said. “I think it will serve the nurses, the patients and the administration well.”