Today, State negotiators told us in the clearest possible terms that they don’t care about the health care professionals we represent; that the personal safety and work/life balance of the LVNs, CNAs, and RNs isn’t a priority, nor is the quality of the patient care they provide.
They told us that they have no interest in bargaining over mandatory overtime, no interest in reducing the number of mandated shifts, and no interest in finding real solutions to this dangerous practice.
Why? Because, as the State’s lead negotiator said today, state agencies like CDCR/CCHCS and DVA don’t want to make a change and prefer to use mandatory overtime as a staffing tool. What’s worse, that same lead negotiator claimed having the authority to implement a reduction in MOT, and that it wasn’t a financial decision. The departments believe reducing MOT to be too difficult.
Eliminating MOT has been a hard-fought, six-year battle. We reached agreement in 2019 negotiations for a joint task force to find solutions, which included triggers that forced a reduction in the number of mandated shifts management could impose.
Local 1000 did their share, creating solutions, participating in pilot programs, and more. At every turn, our ideas were answered with excuses or unwillingness. Our current contract called for the participation of CalHR and the State’s Department of Finance, which did not happen.
We entered this bargaining cycle with the goal of creating a pathway to eliminating MOT. Today’s session was the third we’ve had with the State on this subject. We’ve presented scores of subject matter experts backed with compelling data. All to no avail.
The State has rejected our every effort to reduce the number of mandated shifts. The State is willing to keep the task force, but as many times as Local 1000 has brought recommendations to the table, the State has failed to implement them or bring recommendations of its own.
It’s time for the nurses represented by Local 1000 to take action. If the State won’t move, we can stand together and make our demands to move them.
Here’s how you can take action:
We all know how dangerous mandatory overtime is for patients and staff, but it’s important that management hears it from all of us! Take 2 minutes and please call/email your Department Head and urge them to support our proposal because we all benefit from a safe working environment.
Use the list below to find who you should contact based on your department worksite:
- Department of State Hospitals- Executive Director
- Department of Veteran Affairs- Director of Nursing
- Department of Developmental Services- Executive Director
- California Correctional Health Care Services/CDCR- Your facility’s Chief Nurse Executive
***In order to make sure our message is heard, please remember to be courteous and respectful!
Below is a simple script to use when making your calls or emails:
“My name is _____, and I have been a nurse with the State of California for ___ years. I love my job and take great pride in quality patient care. My coworkers and I sacrificed our health and the health of our families during the pandemic because we knew our work was essential. However, we are now at a breaking point. The high vacancy rate of nurses is putting us ALL at risk once again. The shortage in nurses means we are regularly being expected to work mandatory overtime. Mandatory overtime is unsafe for patients and nurses. Please do the right thing and urge CalHR to accept our proposal to reduce mandatory overtime for nurses that work for the State of California.”
What’s next:
Unit-specific bargaining, along with negotiations at the master table, are being scheduled on a day-to-day basis. When there’s activity at the table, we’ll email and post the results, often on the same day. Click here to read all the recaps of bargaining activity.