Nurses Approve Contracts with Children’s Hospital Oakland, Avoiding Strike
Nurses at Children's Hospital Oakland approved a three-year contract Wednesday, "averting a potential strike," the Oakland Tribune reports. Represented by the California Nurses Association, the nurses "authorized" their negotiators to call a strike "in the event of an impasse over issues such as wages, staffing and benefits." The new contract includes a 5% "across-the-board" pay raise, language that prohibits mandatory overtime and "first-ever" pension plan and retirement health benefits for the 640 registered nurses working at Children's. The health benefits will cover nurses 55 years and older who have at least a decade of service at the hospital (Oakland Tribune, 9/20).