Schwarzenegger Agrees to 5% Wage Increase for State Nurses
Officials from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) administration on Tuesday confirmed that the governor has agreed to a wage increase of at least 5% for state-employed nurses, the Sacramento Bee reports (Bluth/Talev, Sacramento Bee, 6/30). In a letter to members of the California State Employees Association, union President J.J. Jelincic said that Schwarzenegger also said he would support efforts to make wages for public sector registered nurses more consistent with wages for private sector RNs in similar positions (California State Employees Association release, 6/27). According to the Bee, the development reveals that the "emerging state budget agreement will impose far less hardship than expected on most state employees." Legislative leaders said that they hope to finish all budget negotiations by Wednesday, the last day of fiscal year 2003-2004 (Sacramento Bee, 6/30).
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