Members at LA LGBT center settle first contract
NUHW members at the Los Angeles LGBT Center voted unanimously to ratify their first contract that includes pay raises ranging from 9.3 to 15.8 percent over the next 18 months. The contract also includes a pathway for a 15 percent increase upon licensure for social workers, bilingual pay differential, and annual education reimbursement.
The workers, who voted unanimously to join NUHW in late 2019, include physicians, nurses, social workers, and other professionals who deliver primary care, sexual health care and preventive services, mental health care, and addiction recovery services to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
Created in 1969, the Los Angeles LGBT Center now employs more than 700 workers and provides services for more LGBT people than any other organization in the world. But its professional workers had been receiving below-average wages that has resulted in chronic turnover affecting patient care.
“I voted YES to help solve the staff turnover problem,” said Dr. Thomas Biddison. “Fair wages will reduce turnover, give us more time with our patients and improve quality of care.”