The University of California has filed charges against a
nurses’ union, alleging the union was using unfair
negotiating tactics during ongoing contract bargaining
sessions.
After the UC and California Nurses Association were unable to
agree on three points during contract negotiations last year, both
parties agreed to a special negotiation session that would allow
them to sign a new contract in December of 2005 and begin
negotiations in April.
The union and the university agreed to continue negotiating
wages, health benefits and retiree health plans, as well as a
system for improving meal and break periods for employees.
The charges filed against the union outline two complaints: that
the union tried to negotiate staffing issues, which were not open
for negotiation in the special session; and that the union came to
the bargaining table not with the intention of collaborating to
reach an agreement, but with the intention of expediting the
bargaining process to the point where they could legally strike,
said Paul Schwartz, a UC spokesman.
Starting April 15, the UC and the nurses’ union began the
special negotiations, called a re-opener bargaining session, but
the negotiations turned south after the union and the university
began to disagree on what elements of the contract they could talk
about.
The union wants to continue to discuss staffing issues, saying
that they are vital to the other negotiations, but the UC calls
this bad-faith bargaining.
In response, the university filed charges with the Public
Employment Relations Board against the California Nurses
Association, which represents over 8,500 registered nurses
throughout the UC system. The charges will be investigated, and a
formal complaint may be issued to the union.
Currently, the union and the UC are in the second phase of the
re-opener bargaining process, where a state-appointed mediator
helps the two parties reach a non-binding agreement. If the
mediator cannot help, a three-person panel is appointed to look at
evidence and try to reach an agreement.
The nurses’ union argues that because of low staffing,
nurses are unable to legally take necessary breaks.
“What we agreed to do is open up bargaining issues on
meals and breaks, but these issues are all very interrelated with
staffing issues. Everything in the contract involves staffing, and
(the charges filed by the UC) represent a good-faith difference of
opinion,” said Beth Kean, director of the UC Division of the
California Nurses Association.
The union says that nurses have difficulty taking breaks because
another nurse must take legal responsibility for the patients of a
nurse who is off duty, said Manny Punzalan, a UCLA nurse on the
union bargaining team.
The union also argues that the UC is proposing wages that are
well below what nurses make at competing hospitals ““
sometimes $4 to $10 less per hour, Punzalan said.
But the university maintains that its wage proposals are market
value.
“We want an agreement as soon as possible. We feel that we
have presented fair proposals that include competitive wages and
benefits,” Schwartz said.