Hospital Caregivers Approve Contract

Union-member hospital caregivers who previously threatened to strike voted to accept a bargaining agreement, announced Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. Ninety percent of the members of SEIU-UHW voted on Dec. 10 to approve of the agreement with Hospital Corporation of America, or HCA, hospitals. Two of the hospitals included West Hills Hospital & Medical Center and Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks. The agreement followed bargaining talks between the parties using a federal mediator after the union’s members threatened to hold a one-day strike on Dec. 3. The agreement includes guaranteed minimum raises between 2 percent and 4 percent for each year of the four-year contract, protects fully employer-paid health care, and allows for career advancement and education reimbursement, the union said. The agreement also includes higher additional raises to bring employees at each of the five HCA hospitals up to current wage scale, the union added. The raises will vary by hospital. The union members affected by the agreement include licensed vocational nurses, respiratory care practitioners, certified nurse assistants and environmental services workers. Jessica Vernabe