The University of California and the California Nurses Association ratified a four-year agreement for nearly 24, 000 registered nurses that includes an 18. 5% minimum increase in wages over the life of the four-year contract across the university’s 19 medical centers and campuses, the union announced on Saturday, Nov. 22. CNA said in its statement that the contract also caps health care premium increases and adds “protections to improve patient safety and nurse retention.” A union spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about how many members voted to support or reject ratification of the contract, or what the new minimum hourly wage is under the contract for first year nurses. “UC nurses were unified in our demands for a contract that reversed and halted UC management’s growing practice of short-staffing facilities, cutting back on resources, and forcing [registered nurses] to do more with less support,” said Marlene Tucay, an RN at UC Irvine and member of the CNC bargaining team, in a statement. “As a result of the commitment of all CNA members, we won a contract that will improve outcomes for nurses and our patients.” A UC spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment. The new contract, which also places restrictions on UC floating RNs between facilities and adds improvements to meal and rest breaks and workplace violence-prevention policies, covers the period Nov. 1, 2025, to Jan. 31, 2029. Under the contract, RNs were guaranteed a central role in selecting, designing and validating new technology, including artificial intelligence systems, the CNA stated. Registered nurses provide and coordinate patient care and educate patients and the public about various health conditions, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. CNA becomes the second major union to ratify a new labor contract with UC in recent days. On Nov. 20, the University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America Local 9119, which represents 19, 664 healthcare, research and technical professionals, ratified its contract with UC. The UPTE-CWA union’s agreement provides a roughly 28% pay bump over the next four years, pension contributions, caps on health care premium increases, and improvements to career advancement steps and work-life balance. Bargaining between the university and CNA and UPTE-CWA began in June 2024 ahead of the contract expiration with each of the unions on Oct. 31, 2024. Earlier this month, after CNA and UPTE-CWA reached a tentative deal with UC, the unions cancelled plans to join picket lines with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents 37, 481 service and patient care technical workers at UC, ahead of a Nov. 17-18 strike. The plans to cancel participation in the strike would have brought more than 80, 000 union members including CNA, UPTE-CWA and AFSCME to the picket lines last Monday and Tuesday in what they described as a historic display of solidarity against UC. As of Saturday, AFSCME Local 3299 was still in talks with UC negotiators. That union’s contract also expired last year, with its members going out on strike Nov. 17-18. “UC’s disappointing tone deafness to the affordability crisis plaguing its lowest paid frontline workers persists,” said Todd Stenhouse, a spokesman for AFSCME Local 3299. Michael Avant, president of AFSCME Local 3299, has made a point of criticizing the UC system for spending billions of dollars acquiring new facilities, “lavishing exorbitant raises on its wealthiest executives and funding housing assistance programs to help these same ivory tower elites buy mansions or second homes” though not offering its frontline workers enough to “pay the rent or keep pace with the skyrocketing cost of groceries.”.
https://www.whittierdailynews.com/2025/11/22/24000-registered-nurses-ratify-new-four-year-contract-with-uc/
