At the Table: UNAC/UHCP Contracts on the Line

March 2015

UNAC/UHCP health care professionals are back at the table in 2015, bargaining several different contracts—Beverly Hospital in Montebello; UHS-Corona in Corona; Kaiser national agreement and local contracts for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical and occupational therapists, nurse midwives and case managers throughout Southern California; and Pettis Memorial in Loma Linda.

At UHS-Corona in the Inland Empire, negotiations for a first contract started last year, after nurses in the facility elected UNAC/UHCP the sole bargaining representative. After dozens of bargaining sessions, slow but steady progress has been the name of the game. Bargaining dates have been scheduled through early April.

At Beverly Hospital in the San Gabriel Valley, negotiations started in January for a second contract. All Beverly members are urged to attend to protect the gains made in the first contract and fight for improvements going forward.

All UNAC/UHCP Kaiser members join the over 100,000 member Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions in bargaining a national agreement with Kaiser starting in March. In 2012, the overwhelming number of UNAC/UHCP members at bargaining was deemed “a sea of blue” by participants. Members may sign up to attend on the UNAC/UHCP website.

UNAC/UHCP members at Pettis Memorial in Loma Linda are negotiating their first contract in 31 years in the coming months. Because Pettis is a federal facility, only staffing and workload issues can be addressed in the contract. When the contract was reviewed recently, it became apparent that it contained a few outdated agreements that have since been invalidated by federal law. In addition, there are other areas where improvements will be sought.

Please check unacuhcp.org for updates on bargaining through the summer.