CPMC workers get Sutter to nearly double proposed raises in new contract
NUHW members at Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract that will raise salaries 14.5 percent over the next four years.
The contract, which also preserves pensions for existing workers, boosts wage rates for certified nursing assistants, and guarantees that overtime must be prioritized by seniority, is a hard-earned victory for approximately workers who had to fight just to get Sutter to the bargaining table.
After securing a one-year contract with three percent raises last year, nursing assistants, food service workers, housekeepers, medical technicians and other workers had to sign a petition demanding that Sutter resume negotiations on a long-term contract.
Sutter started bargaining offering only an 8 percent wage increase, but workers held firm, ultimately forcing Sutter to nearly double its proposal.
“We won the biggest raises I can recall in my three decades working at CPMC,” said Dewanda Benard, a housekeeper. “This contract is a big victory for all of us and an example of what we can achieve when we stand united and fight for our rights.”