Nurses reach 5-year tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente
By Bay City News Service
Nurses at 21 Kaiser Permanente medical centers and dozens of other clinics and offices across Northern and Central California have reached a tentative agreement with the health system on a five-year contract.
The contract, agreed to on Friday night, will now go before the roughly 19,000 members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United union for ratification at a series of meetings starting next Monday and running through mid-April, union officials said.
The union said the pact includes the addition of positions to facilitate the shift of Kaiser's old computer system to a new and more complicated system, while also protects pensions and medical benefits for
current and retired nurses.
There will be a 12 percent wage increase across the board over the five years, according to the union.
"This agreement gives us a strong foundation for health security for Kaiser nurses and patients for the next five years in a turbulent time of health care in our state and nation," CAN executive director Bonnie Castillo said in a statement.