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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

After 5 Years, Antelope Valley Hospital Signs Union Contract

Two area hospitals,Antelope Valley Hospital and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center,have reached agreements with Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers-West. For Antelope Valley Hospital, settling on a contract marks the end of a five-year struggle. “It took a long time. We are very, very happy that finally we finished everything,” CEO Edward Mirzabegian said. “We can get together and forget our differences and be on one team and make this place a better place for our patients and all the employees.” The contract, reached Aug. 23, includes pay increases of 4.75 percent, retroactive to July 2006; 5.4 percent retroactive to July 2007; and 3.25 percent, effective in January. According to the hospital, both parties agreed to reopen the contract exclusively for wage negotiations for the third year of the agreement, which will extend through June 30, 2009. “The fact that people did not give up after a five-year struggle certainly was a culmination that brought the contract to a resolution,” said John Borsos, chief negotiator and vice president of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West. “Folks in the Lancaster-Palmdale area saw what competitors were providing. It’s really hard to argue that caregivers should receive significantly different wages and benefits. Caregivers in Lancaster and Palmdale were willing to stand up and do something about it.” According to Mirzabegian, one of the key negotiators was John Sullivan, AVH vice president of human resources. “John Sullivan did excellent work,” Mirzabegian said. “He’s a very seasoned executive. He’s done these negotiations in the past. He’s very knowledgeable about union rules and has a vast knowledge of negotiation skills. We came to that budget target as far as dollars and as far as other policies and procedures it was very mutually agreed, so we kind of accomplished what we needed to do.” On Aug. 29, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center and SEIU ratified a tentative contract agreement following seven months of negotiations. The four-year contract is retroactive to April 1, 2007, and expires on Sept. 30, 2011. “Both sides are very satisfied with the end result of the new contract,” hospital spokesman Dan Boyle said. “SEIU had set a date of June 13 on striking, but the strike was averted when SEIU agreed to [Councilman] Richard Alarc & #243;n’s request for a 30-day cooling period. The cooling period allowed both sides to return to the bargaining table and eventually we ended up with a new contract.” Borsos also credits Alarc & #243;n’s intervention with helping both sides reach an agreement, saying that the councilman’s role was crucial in facilitating a settlement between the hospital and the union. Acknowledging that the union was willing to compromise on some issues, while it refused to budge on others, Borsos said, “In any negotiation, there’s a give-and-take.” “One issue [that was non-negotiable] was ensuring there were appropriate mechanisms for caregivers to be trained and upgraded, to ensure jobs were protected and not subcontracted, to protect the rising cost of health insurance and fully employer paid health insurance benefits,” said Borsos. He hopes the contract represents the beginning of a different relationship between the hospital and SEIU, one that is “not anti-union,” he stressed. At present SEIU continues to negotiate with Tenet Healthcare Corporation, which owns Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center. Healthcare workers there held a “Rally for Quality Patient Care” on Aug. 21 as part of a statewide effort to address staffing, equipment and other issues related to patient care. Borsos said that next year a number of other contracts will be expiring, including one with Northridge Medical Center. Hospitals in the midst of contract negotiations might consider following Antelope Valley Hospital’s lead, Mirzabegian suggested. “It’s a very, very fair contract that a lot of other hospital executives, if they see it, they will be very happy abut it,” he said.

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