Unit 17: Registered Nurses

On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, SEIU Local 1000 met with the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) to meet and discuss over the status and future of Health and Safety Committees at all five facilities, per Section 10.2 of the MOU. At this meeting, member leaders represented all the DSH facilities, except for Atascadero. Positive steps were taken and will continue in order to ensure success for Health and Safety Committees at each facility to appropriately address concerns collaboratively with management and all staff unions.

On Tuesday, May 4, 2021, SEIU Local 1000 met with the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) to meet and confer over DSH’s application for a permanent exemption to the California Standards for Workplace Violence Prevention in Healthcare, which mandates guidelines for reporting to the Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) regarding workplace violence incidences.

Our Union met with California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) to continue discussing the formation and implementation of an Employee Health Team (EHT) at each institution throughout the state.

Some of the major details from the Meet-and-Confer include:

CCHCS was asked to explain the overall, general status of the Employee Health program and any other relevant information, and they responded with the following updates:

Thank you for all your emails and feedback. Please continue sending your questions, comments, and feedback to unit17@seiu1000.org We read each email and try to respond accordingly in our updates.

1. UPDATE ON UNFAIR PRACTICE CHARGE (UPC)

On September 29th, 2020, our Union met with California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) to discuss the formation and implementation of an Employee Health Team (EHT) at each institution throughout the State.

On September 18, 2020, our Union met with Management for a check-in over the phone. Christina Montserrat and Susan Espinoza attended for CDPH (California Department of Public Health), and Andres Villarto, Kim Cowart, and Mo Kashmiri attended on behalf of our Union.

On August 4, 2020, our Union met with representatives from CDPH about outstanding notices. CDPH answered many of our outstanding questions and, based on our previous complaints,

Learn about how California’s Aerosol Transmissible Disease (ATD) Standard continues to protect us from the novel COVID-19 Virus.

The Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Disease (ATD) Standard is an enforceable regulation that applies in healthcare, corrections, and other high risk environments.

Our Union has received two notices from management regarding changes in HFEN working conditions, and we will be meeting with management regarding them on Thursday, July 9, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. Below is more information about the notices:

For the first time in 42 years, we were able to increase the Bilingual Pay Differential to $200/month. This comes after 20 years of fighting for an increase including a joint task force and hundreds of members telling their story. We have been fighting for the implementation of

Local 1000’s Unit 17 Registered Nurses (RNs) returned to the bargaining table on Sunday, August 19 and signed a number of tentative agreements (TA) that strengthened and protected contract language around issues important to California state nurses.

Local 1000’s Unit 17 bargaining team returned to the negotiation table with the state on August 6, 2019, and was able to sign off on a number of tentative agreements that preserved previous victories important to Unit 17 nurses.   

One tentative agreement (TA) from the current contract preserves professional development opportunities. The TA, Paid Educational Leave, allows state nurses to earn the necessary Continuing Education Units required to maintain their licensure as a registered nurse.

On Tuesday, July 30, 2019, Unit 17 went back to the bargaining table in the latest stage of our ongoing battle to create a safe, equitable workplace and deliver job satisfaction for our 5300+ Registered Nurses across California.  

“We presented two new proposals and signed 34 tentative agreements on numerous articles of hard-earned roll-over language that had been previously negotiated,” said Bob Mutebi, RN (CHCF) and Unit 17 BUNC member.

Unit 17 RNs met with state negotiators to drive home the value of their work and the daily challenges they face in providing quality care to our most vulnerable patients.

Members from Unit 17 provided compelling stories of unreasonable workloads caused by recruitment and retention challenges resulting from below-market pay in a competitive landscape. Telling their stories, our nurses shared their passion for their profession and gave their patients a voice.

The SEIU Unit 17 bargaining team met for the first time with state negotiators on Tuesday, July 9, to represent the interests of the over 5300 Registered Nurses across California. During the session, Unit 17-represented members made presentations about their job classification, putting a face on the challenging and often dangerous situations they encounter on a daily basis.

On August 7th, 2018, our union met with the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Department of Juvenile Justice (CDCR DJJ) to discuss the implementation of the Cellsense Contraband Detector program within the DJJ Facilities in the state.

Our bargaining team met with the state for the first time in three months and ended the week frustrated by a continued lack of movement by the state on key issues. 

Earlier in the week, our team presented eye-opening information illustrating the gender pay gap in state civil service. Our union is 66% women and 34% men. The seven unions the state has reached agreement with, overwhelmingly comprised of men, are paid a staggering 43% more than Local 1000 members.

Bargaining leaders – Margarita Maldonado, Vice President for Bargaining, Rionna Jones, Chair of Unit 20 and Kim Cowart, Chair of Unit 17 – met with California Correctional Health Care Services’ (CCHCS) executive management to discuss the dissatisfaction of members across the state regarding their mishandling of post and bid, an ill-advised staffing model, their proposal to create a new Medical Assistant classification, the use of mandatory overtime and other chronic issues.

Local 1000 has launched its 2016 contract campaign with these words from President Yvonne R. Walker: “Our contract will be about the strength and the power of our members to win something amazing.” 

Speaking to members statewide on a conference call for Local 1000 stewards and hundreds more who heard the call at listening parties, Walker looked forward to the upcoming negotiations feeling confident about the preparation that’s gone before.

Earlier this year, Local 1000 conducted a survey of LVNs and RNs asking them whether or not they were interested in allowing nursing management to conduct an early bid. The response was clear: no. Our members want us to aggressively enforce our contract, and that’s what we will do. After pressure from the union on several fronts, the Receiver and management from California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) agreed to wait until the October post and bid cycle.

Local 1000 members are monitoring the implementation of a new electronic records system that will streamline health care services in state prisons. Called Electronic Health Records System (EHRS), the system will begin its rollout in October.

Members of Local 1000 working in health care on the Central Coast were honored on April 17 with the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council’s Health Care Rising Award. The honor recognized the tremendous work Local 1000 has done organizing for better working conditions and advocating for patient safety at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP), the Correctional Training Facility (CTF) and the Department of State Hospitals-Salinas Valley (DSH). The award was shared with the California Nurses Association, which has been active in other health care facilities in the region.

Building power in the community, facing challenges and developing union leaders were key themes of last week’s meeting of the Statewide Bargaining Advisory Council (SBAC) in Southern California.

Nearly 200 elected bargaining representatives from up and down California—including the 60-plus members who negotiate our contract with the state—meet three times each year to develop strategies for bargaining and to understand and respond to issues that affect our lives at work and at home.

Bargaining Unit 17 will meet with CalHR in mid-September regarding the recruitment and retention issues in the Health Facility Evaluator (HFEN) classification. 

Our contract article 5.17.17 affords BU 17 the opportunity to discuss recruitment and retention of six classifications a year. Other classifications slated to be discussed are: Nurse Evaluator II, Nurse Consultant, Health Services Specialist, Registered Nurse (in the California Department of Education), and Nurse Practitioners. 

Local 1000-sponsored legislation to ban the unsafe practice of mandatory overtime, for nurses and nursing assistants, has passed the state Assembly and is now before the state Senate.

The Assembly vote on AB 2155 came after a determined campaign spearheaded by Local 1000 nurses who work in prisons and mental hospitals. Frustrated by frequent double shifts and callbacks without proper rest, the nurses organized in support of the bill and took their message to the Assembly.