The University of California has reached a tentative contract agreement with the union representing more than 25,000 registered nurses, officials said Sunday.
The tentative deal was announced Sunday by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United. UC officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“University of California RNs organized for and won important patient protections at the bargaining table, like curbing the rampant misuse of floating and ensuring safeguards on artificial intelligence,” said Kristan Delmarty, RN at UCLA Santa Monica, and a member of the UC bargaining team and CNA’s board of directors.
“Going into this round of bargaining, it was our priority to ensure UC nurses were given the resources to care for our patients and ourselves after years of short-staffing and under-resourcing. We achieved our goal and now we stand together with our AFSCME colleagues, whose essential work demands the same resources guaranteed by a fair contract.”
The nurses, who work at 19 UC facilities statewide and have been bargaining for a new contract since June, will vote on the contract proposal later this week.
As a result of the agreement, the CAN canceled plans to participate in sympathy strikes Monday and Tuesday with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. That union, which represents more than 37,000 UC service and patient care technical workers, is conducting a two-day strike at 18 campuses and medical facilities statewide over what they say is the university’s failure to settle a contract addressing the cost of living.
CNA officials said some of their nurses would still join AFSCME picket lines while not on work time.