After two years of difficult and complex negotiations, NUHW members at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister unanimously ratified a contract that will immediately increase salaries by 12.5 percent while sharply reducing cuts to health and retirement benefits and paid time off that the hospital district unilaterally implemented last year when it filed for bankruptcy.
“This contract will put much-needed money in our members’ pockets with the two-plus years of retro and raises while maintaining good medical benefits and keeping premiums low,” said Edward Perez, a surgical tech at the hospital.
The agreement expires on June 30, 2025, which gives workers an opportunity to win additional raises next year as community stakeholders determine the hospital’s future ownership structure.
In November, the San Benito Health Care District Board of Directors is asking voters to approve selling the public hospital to Insight, a for-profit hospital chain based in Michigan. However, the San Benito Board of Supervisors, which wants to keep the hospital under public ownership, has placed a competing measure on the ballot asking voters whether they agree with keeping it under local control.
The hospital filed for bankruptcy last year and immediately stopped contributing to employee pensions and raised insurance premiums. However, NUHW and the California Nurses’ Association successfully challenged the hospital district’s bankruptcy filing, claiming that the district did not qualify for bankruptcy protection.
The hospital district is challenging a judge’s ruling in favor of the two unions.
NUHW members at the hospital, which include surgical techs, nursing assistants, housekeepers, and other caregivers, pushed back against the hospital district’s takeaways and were ready to strike before the district agreed to make concessions as the bankruptcy filing continues to be fought in the courts.
“There was a time during the negotiations when we felt we were given a ‘take it or leave it’ offer,” said Perez, who was involved in the contract bargaining. “In the end, we were able to get a respectable contract.”
Perez added they had to make concessions to reach the agreement.
“We came to a realization that in the financial situation that the hospital is in, there was going to be some takeaways,” he said. “In the end, we were able to get a respectable contract, and we’ll definitely try to get back some of the takeaways when we return to bargaining next year.”
