Nurses Reach Tentative Agreement with Sharp Hospital System
Potentially averting a strike, nurses at the San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare hospital system reached a tentative contract agreement with management last Friday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The six-hospital system's 2,400 nurses, represented by the United Nurses Associations of California, will vote on the agreement at the end of the week. The Union-Tribune reports that neither side is releasing information about the agreement until the nurses vote. Negotiations between the two sides began in April, with the nurses calling for across-the-board wage increases, a ban on mandatory overtime and an increased role in staffing decisions. Late last month, the nurses voted to allow the union to give the hospital system a 10-day intent-to-strike notice. Union representatives were "on the brink of giving" notice last Wednesday until Sharp administrators "softened their stand" (Fong, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/12).
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