By LESTER CHANG
El Camino Hospital and Professional Resource for Nurses have settled a grievance the union filed with the National Labor Relations Board in July.
The action, announced by the hospital on Feb. 25, opens the door for negotiators from the hospital and the union to resume contract talks in August.
In upcoming talks, each side will look at resolving complaints from nurses about pay for different work shifts and workloads.
Under an agreement over the labor grievances, nurses and hospital management will abide by an existing contract until a new one is fashioned, hospital spokeswoman Leah Blum said. The existing contract expired in June 1996.
PRN, which represents more than 500 nurses, unanimously approved the agreement to settle the grievance with the hospital on Feb. 24. The terms of the agreement will be sent to the NLRB for approval, the union said.
PRN lodged the complaint with the NLRB in July after Camino Healthcare Corp. negotiators walked away from contract talks.
At the time, Camino Healthcare, a management company, ran the hospital for the El Camino Hospital District. That situation changed in January, when Camino Healthcare, the district and the Camino Medical Group, consisting of about 250 doctors, signed an agreement to return the management of the hospital to the district. The change came after Camino Healthcare reported losses of $17 million during the 1995 fiscal year. Hospital officials applauded the latest agreement.
"This effort on behalf of all parties will contribute toward a period of cooperation in our hospital," Richard M. Warren, chief executive officer and administrator at the hospital, said in a news release. Hospital board member Mark O'Connor said the agreement means morale among nurses will improve, leading to better services to patients. Patricia Briggs, president and chief negotiator for PRN, wasn't immediately available for comment. But she said in a news release that she welcomed the latest action.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, March 5, 1997.
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