The honeymoon is over. The first bargaining sessions with Greater El Monte management may have seemed promising, but this week they showed their true colors.

Floating

Management agreed with our proposal to take current validated competencies into account when floating Nurses, but they are insisting on a definition of "current" that would throw safety out the window. Management believes it is safe to float Nurses to units that they haven't worked in or floated to for a full year. Our position — and this is in keeping with the standards at union hospitals in the area — is that keeping patients safe and protecting Nurses' licenses requires Nurses to have been re-oriented to a unit if they haven't worked in there within 90 days.

Pandemic safety

We presented a comprehensive proposal to management that would ensure Greater El Monte is prepared and Nurses are protected in the event of a major public health crisis like a pandemic. Nurses have reported shortfalls in management's preparedness for and protection of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and your bargaining team believes it's important to learn from experience. Management responded by crossing out every single word of our proposal and saying they "respectfully reject" our safety proposal. Actions speak louder than words. You can't respect Nurses while refusing to address our concerns!

Member Voices

It's unfortunate that management is refusing to agree to putting a safe and sensible plan in place in the event another pandemic occurs. We deserve to know that if and when we're called upon again to face a major public health emergency, that we'll have the support and protection we'll need. We should be learning from past experience and without our proposal, management is asking for unnecessary harm to Nurses, patients, our families and community.

— Samantha Alegria, ER
Bargaining Team Member