Chino Valley Medical Center RNs Ratify First Contract

June 2013

After a long battle, the registered nurses at Chino Valley Medical Center have ratified their first contract! Among the benefits won in the contract:

* No increase on health care costs over the life of the three-year contract
* Improvements in preceptor pay
* First ever guaranteed wage increase
* Protected Paid Time Off benefits
* Strong seniority rights
* Establishment of a Patient Care Committee
* Just cause, grievance and arbitration procedure

Chino Valley is the first Prime Healthcare hospital in the United States to win a union contract! The only other Prime Healthcare hospitals to achieve contracts were those with existing union contracts that were sold to Prime. This is a huge victory for the bargaining team, made up of nurses from Chino, UNAC/UHCP Chief Negotiator Barbara Lewis, and UNAC/UHCP Staff Representative Penny Brown, who began bargaining the first contract last summer.

We congratulate the nurses at Chino Valley, who with their first contract now have a voice on the job! A special note of congratulations goes out to the nurses on the bargaining team who fought bravely for this contract and deserve to savor this moment.