Doctors, nurses and other health care workers at Los Angeles' busiest public hospital made phone calls to Congress for health insurance reform on Thursday, Dec. 17. Standing on the steps outside the brand new LAC+USC Medical Center, they urged Senators to end the gridlock and fix our broken health care system.
LA County employees represented by SEIU 721 have overwhelmingly ratified an agreement that protects working families and will lead to service improvements for residents. Out of the total vote, 96% voted yes to approve their unit contracts and 97% approved the fringe benefits including family health care and dependent care.
Over 4,800 LA County SEIU 721 members voted to ratify the two-year contract that preserves services, provides an increase in County contributions to health care, and avoids furloughs or layoffs.
Dozens of members volunteered to count the votes Monday night, November 9.
"For me getting involved for the first time in the bargaining process I am very pleased," says Joe Coleman, custodian in Bargaining Unit 201. "This was a strong vote of support for all the hard work our bargaining teams did."
Luis Villegas, chair of bargaining unit 431 says, "We would not have won this agreement without the united voice of our membership. From the worksites to the bargaining table we did this by working together."
See contract details
Next steps: Bargaining team members will be proofing the contracts which are due to the Board of Supervisors by November 19. This will give the Auditor-Controller enough time to make payroll system changes to include the Jan. 1, 2010 increase in the County's contribution to our health insurance plan. The negotiated 2009-11 Union contracts are not binding until they have been adopted by the Board of Supervisors. We're hoping for a December 15 finalization.
Your elected SEIU Local 721 Registered Nurse Bargaining Teams 311 and 312 are proud to report that your participation in your RN Contract Campaign has resulted in a successful 2009-2011 Contract with significant wins for our RN professional practice, quality care and safety of our patients. Let's keep advocating for our patients and our LA County healthcare system!
You will be receiving a ratification ballot in the mail to cast your vote to accept this settlement and to accept your fringe benefits and health care benefits. You will receive, by mail, a detailed summary of all terms of tentative settlement with your ballot. Please review your contract summary and vote to ratify your new contract by mailing back your ballot. Your ballot must be received by 5:00pm on Monday, November 9, 2009. The ballots will be counted on Monday, November 9, 2009 at 6:00pm at SEIU 721 Los Angeles office.
As nurses, we will need to monitor and enforce our new RN contract!
We need RN stewards in every facility and department to protect our RN licenses and advocate for quality care for our patients and clients. We will need to become more active with our SEIU Nurse Alliance of California to protect and strengthen our California Board of Registered Nursing.
Continue reading to view contract details
Tuesday night, SEIU 721 Bargaining Policy Committee members tentatively agreed to a new 2-year union contract that provides an increase in health care contributions by the county.
The 2-year agreement also improves members' rights in the workplace and creates a series of high-level groups to improve efficiencies and services in LA County.
Additional information including a complete summary of the tentative agreement will be available soon.
The Details on Health Care:
The 2009-11 contract includes an 8% contribution increase effective January 1, 2010 and a 7.2% increase in 2011 to the Options medical plans.
The employer contribution is projected to offset future increases in medical and dental premiums. In addition, the 2009-11 contract ensures that SEIU members enrolled in Blue Shield and Cigna plans will retain their eligibility. This applies to social workers and other former members of SEIU Local 535.
Other Contract Gains:
Specific details on other gains for all bargaining unit agreements include: improvements in the grievance procedure, a strengthened stewards article and a new personnel practices article that addresses performance evaluations, appeal processes and seeks to resolve payment of arbitration awards. The workplace retraining article is also updated.
Union bargaining team members reached a tentative agreement late Tuesday night that takes positive steps toward improving county services.
The agreement preserves services in a time when many residents depend on the county safety net more than ever. Click here to view more details about the agreement.
Librarians have a plan that would improve book selection at local libraries and save Los Angeles County money. But the library department doesn't want to hear it.
Bargaining team members will continued talks Oct. 6, to reach an agreement on a tentative 2-year contract for 55,000 LA County employees that adopts worker proposals to introduce new efficiencies to the county.
On the day the contract covering 55,000 county employees is set to expire, LA County library management announced the layoffs for dozens of library aides and pages, which will directly impact service at the county's 84 libraries.
Photo: Cat Clark, a clerk at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, in a photo that ran in the Los Angeles Times
SEIU members were out in front of the cameras and mics at County Hall yesterday, talking to reporters about what building a better LA will mean for residents and employees.
Reporters caught the speakers inside the Board of Supervisors and the rally outside, where more than 2,800 LA County employees danced and cheered. Reports focused on our efforts to improve services and ensure health care for employees and their families.
More than 2,800 LA County employees made a statement Sept. 29 at the Hall of Administration. With just one day to go before contracts expired for 55,000 people represented by the County's largest union, SEIU 721 members appealed to the Board of Supervisors and sent bargaining teams back to action.
