University of California nurses have ratified a new two-year labor agreement that includes a pay hike and preserves current pension benefits. The new contract affects some 9,000 nurses statewide. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.
UC nurses had threatened to walk off the job last July after contract talks broke down. But nurses now say the new labor agreement satisfies many of their demands.
UCSD nurse Janice Webb was one of the local negotiators. She says nurses will get an average of a four percent pay hike starting next month.
Webb: "One of the other good things we got was for staffing, we'll now have a committee where we can actually arbitrate if we don't agree with the director of nurses' solution for some of our chronic staffing issues."
For their part, nurses have agreed to pay higher health insurance premiums. UC officials say the new contract should help retain and attract nurses to the system. Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
