Thousands of UC-employed registered nurses gathered to support a new contract at six university locations Wednesday afternoon.
Locally, the California Nurses Association sponsored a rally at the UCSD Medical Center Hillcrest where RNs demanded higher pay, elimination of “”mandatory”” on-call and overtime work, and immediate implementation of new RN-to-patient ratios.
Geri Jenkins, a nurse in the surgical intensive care unit trauma department of the Hillcrest hospital and the labor representative for UCSD nurses, said the quality of care depends on RNs.
“”We need fundamental changes,”” said Jenkins. “”Our ultimate goal is always patient care, and we need these changes to be able to continue to provide this care.””
Paul Schwartz, human relations media director for the University of California, echoed Jenkins’ goal of patient care, but disagreed with her methods of achieving it.
“”Our key goals are to provide competitive wages and benefits in the labor market and to continue to reward performance by merit-based progressions,”” he said.
The CNA has negotiated with the University of California since February. The nurses’ contract expires April 30, making a new contract necessary to avert more serious actions.
“”When our contract runs out on April 30, so does our no-strike clause,”” Jenkins said. “”The next step [in the negotiations] might be to call strikes. We are serious about our issues. Right now [the CNA and the University of California] are totally apart.””
Schwartz said he hopes the situation will not come to a strike.
“”[Strikes] don’t serve anybody, and certainly not the patients,”” Schwartz said. “”Strikes are always possible, but we view it as a last resort. We hope that it will not go that route. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.””
The rally featured representatives including U.S. Rep. Susan Davis, Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe and Assemblyman Howard Wayne.
Chris Reefe, Kehoe’s field representative, read a letter from Kehoe to the rallying nurses that expressed her support for their cause.
“”[Kehoe] is in full support of the CNA,”” Reefe said. “”The nurses are in dire straits right now to get more staffing. We hope that both sides can come together for a full, fair and just contract.””
The rally identified the main points of contention between the CNA and the University of California and gathered support from the crowd of nurses.
The CNA feels that the pay scale should be based on experience, whereas the University of California is pushing to keep its merit-based pay scale.
While the CNA contends that the University of California is forcing nurses to work on-call shifts and work mandatory overtime hours, Schwartz contends that the issue is being exaggerated.
“”Most on-call work is voluntary,”” Schwartz said. “”Forced on-call shifts are definitely the exception, rather than the rule. Some on-call work is unavoidable, though. That is the nature of the work.””
The final point of contention is the immediate implementation of Gov. Gray Davis’ six-to-one patient-to-nurse ratio that passed last year.
The CNA would like these numbers to be implemented immediately, rather than wait for the law to force the change, which Jenkins said could take up to a year.
“”Some hospitals are already advertising ratios as a recruitment tool to get more nurses,”” Jenkins said.
Schwartz said that the University of California would like to wait for the California Department of Health Services to meet and deliberate implementation and enforcement.
“”I think that it is premature to decide anything before the Department of Health Services meeting,”” Schwartz said. “”There are also several enforcement considerations.””
In addition, Schwartz said that the enforcement of the ratios by the state would differ from enforcement through a labor contract, and that the University of California would like to avoid such a discrepancy.
Surgical nurse Lynnanne Chaney, who works at Thornton Hospital in UCSD Medical Center La Jolla, said that she hopes the rally will help in the negotiations.
“”I think that this will get [the University of California’s] attention,”” she said. “”It will let them know that we are serious and we’re not going to roll over and play dead.””
From the University of California’s perspective, Wednesday’s rally was relatively neutral, Schwartz said.
“”We don’t see the rally as a negative thing or a positive thing,”” Schwartz said. “”It’s just one of those things that unions do. We have to make our decisions at the table. That is where we are going to make progress.
