NUHW members at the Los Angeles LGBT Center voted unanimously this month to ratify a three-year contract that will significantly improve salaries and health benefits. At the insistence of workers, the contract will also bolster security measures for patients and staff at the world’s largest LGBT Center amid a sharp rise in hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community.
The agreement will increase wages by an average of 22 percent, and, for the first time, require the center to pay a significant portion of healthcare premiums for dependents of the workers, who include doctors, nurses, physician assistants, dietitians and medical social workers. The center will pay 25 percent of dependent premium costs in the first year of the contract, 35 percent in the second year and 50 percent in the third year.
“At a time when our community is increasingly under siege, I’m proud of my colleagues for securing this contract that will help us continue to provide the highest quality care to the LGBTQ+ community in Southern California,” said Cyndi Harrison, a nurse practitioner at the center.
With nearly 800 workers at seven locations, the LA LGBT Center provides more services for LGBTQ+ people than any organization in the world. The center’s 44 unionized healthcare workers, represented by NUHW, reached a tentative agreement in early July and subsequently voted unanimously to ratify the new contract. It’s the second contract ratified by workers since they joined NUHW in 2019.
To address concerns that the center could become a target of increasing anti-LGBTQ+ violence, putting patients and staff at risk, the contract includes provisions requiring that management:
- Hire a security consultant to evaluate clinic security.
- Implement and maintain a multi-code emergency communication system.
- Promptly respond to any safety or health hazard reported by an employee.
The workers also won increased professional development stipends and vacation accrual.
