Welcome
Thank you for visiting your source for the latest facts and information about our contract negotiations with the California Nurses Association (CNA.) We know how important the contract is to you, and we pledge to bargain in good faith to reach an agreement that respects you and your profession, provides competitive pay and benefits, and supports our ability to care for our patients with outstanding service and world-class clinical care.
We are grateful for this extraordinary team, and we look forward to keeping you informed throughout this process and reaching an agreement so you can benefit from the improvements a new contract provides.
Latest Update
October 13 – Update
Dear Nurses of USC,
On Oct. 13, our team met with the California Nurses Association (CNA) for our 23rd day of negotiations. Both parties spent the day talking through the few remaining issues and their various perspectives. Although the parties were not able to reach alignment on these issues, our team presented a number of ideas and concepts we believed could potentially bridge the gap.
At the end of the day, the parties agreed that the Medical Center would continue to explore options with the goal of being able to present an enhancement to our last economic proposal at our next meeting which could be ratified.
Our next bargaining date is Monday, Oct. 20.
If you have any questions, please submit them through our negotiation website.
Best Regards,
The Keck Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital Bargaining Team
Town Hall Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why are we moving away from a years of service model, to a years of experience model?
A: We are committed to fully supporting our caregivers with market-competitive compensation. We are proposing to move to a years of experience model to create a sustainable foundation that ensures caregivers are paid more equitably. By recognizing and rewarding caregivers based on total years of relevant experience (not just years of experience at Keck Hospital of USC or USC Norris Cancer Hospital), this new model addresses previous inconsistencies in pay and rewards all caregivers – even those who are already at or above the market rate for their specific position.
Q: Why are some job classifications paid more or less than others, and some job classifications see different percentage increases?
A: Each job classification is reviewed based on market data and demand for specific roles. The differences in wage rates and percentage increases reflect those factors.
Q: What hospitals are you comparing us to for determining market wage rates?
A: Please note that we do not look to any one competing hospital to determine market wage rates. Instead, we look at a composite of wage rates from hospitals that are geographically similar to us and have comparable size and service offerings. These comparator hospitals include, but are not limited to, UCLA, Cedars Sinai, City of Hope, and Kaiser. Additionally, we consider surgical hospitals in our market comparison, especially when reviewing roles that require on-call and surgical team responsibilities.
Q: What is the current proposal for on-call pay, standby, and shift differentials?
A: There have been significant negotiations at the table regarding on-call pay, standby, and various differentials and have reached tentative resolutions on many of the differentials.
Q: Why does the employer’s proposal include annual percentage caps on wage increases?
A: Wage caps are designed for long-term financial sustainability and to also balance market competitiveness. However, we are reviewing these caps to ensure they are fair and allow employees to reach the correct step on the wage grid over the duration of the contract. Notably, the cap is 50% higher than was agreed to in the last union contract.
Q: Why is the minimum wage increase 2.5%?
A: We have proposed a minimum wage increase so that even employees whose current pay is over the wage grid for their job classification and years of experience will receive an increase to their base-wage rate. Most employees will receive more than a 2.5% increase over the current contract, and the average percentage increase for most employees under each proposed contract is more than double the 2.5% minimum increase.
Q: I am hearing that there are wage decreases for some job classifications. Is that true?
A: We are not proposing any wage cuts. In fact, our proposal ensures that every employee will receive a higher base wage rate for each year of the contract, including per diem employees.
Q: Why are the benefits for per diems lower than what’s currently being offered?
A: There are no changes to benefits, however, per diems will receive a higher wage rate in our proposal as opposed to the expired CBA.
Q: Are the proposed pay increases retroactive?
A: Just like all our prior contracts, pay increases go into effect after the Union ratifies the contract and so there would not be retroactive pay. However, Keck Medicine’s current proposal does provide for a generous ratification bonus that is a higher amount than in prior contracts, designed to incentivize employees to accept the contract and acknowledge that negotiations have continued for a lengthy period of time.
Q: Will everything agreed on so far be withdrawn if a strike notice is given?
A: Most tentative agreement have been mutually agreed to and likely would not be impacted. However, if a strike occurs, many proposals would be withdrawn and the funds set aside for those proposals would be used to ensure our patients continued to receive the care they deserve. This would include the withdrawal of proposals to maintain no premium healthcare, reduction of the wage proposal and others. Of course, we are committed to continuing negotiations and reaching a resolution.
Note: If you attended the town halls and do not see your question addressed, please email: [email protected].