After nine months of negotiations punctuated by a five-day strike, NUHW members ratified a three-year contract this month that will boost raises between 9 and 40 percent for approximately 160 workers at West Anaheim Medical Center.
In addition to the raises, workers secured two additional days of bereavement leave and a new system that allows them to donate paid time off to colleagues facing severe medical issues who have used up all of theirs.
“I’m happy with the contract,” said Angel Francia, a cardiac/vascular interventional technologist who works at the cardiac catheterization lab. “The salary was our main focus… and we’re at fair market value for salaries now.”
Workers at West Anaheim, including medical technicians, respiratory therapists, and licensed vocational nurses, joined NUHW in 2017 and have been securing strong contracts, raising salaries across the board as NUHW members. Their last contract increased wages by an average of 19 percent over three years.
During this campaign, workers waged a five-day strike to fight for an agreement that would financially benefit all of them equally. While the final agreement has bigger raises for certain classifications, workers will receive an average 14 percent wage increase in the first year.
In 2022, service workers at the hospital also joined NUHW after seeing their colleagues make progress in negotiations. With service workers next up to bargain, their colleagues hope that their contracts can become aligned so that they can join forces in contract talks next time, Francia said.
“The majority of the classifications want to unite with the service unit so we have more power in the next negotiations.”
