Frontline nurses and healthcare workers at Sunrise, MountainView and Southern Hills Hospitals, all owned by HCA Healthcare, have won a major tentative agreement for a union contract that would help ensure retention, recruitment and recognition of staff to protect quality patient care.
Dozens of workers from the three facilities held a spirited rally in front of Sunrise Hospital on May 31 and then packed into a negotiation session that lasted right up to the contract expiration deadline at midnight.
The tentative agreement, which still needs to be ratified by a vote of the union membership, covers 4,700 employees including registered nurses, nursing assistants, techs, lab workers, pharmacy workers, environmental services workers and many other vital job classifications that provide patient care and make the hospitals run.
The ratification vote is expected in mid-June.
Workers say that the agreement is a crucial step forward in addressing the severe, ongoing impacts of the pandemic. The contract would run until March 31, 2026 and includes:
- A 13.75% wage increase over 3 years, effective the first full pay period in July.
- An additional $2.25 million for wage adjustments to bring job classifications that are below market up to competitive rates.
- No cuts, including protection of the employer-paid healthcare plan.
- A ban on subcontracting imaging techs at MountainView (workers already have that union protection at Sunrise and Southern Hills).
- Improvements in on-call pay, scheduling practices, disciplinary procedures, and many other key provisions.
“This agreement is a tremendous step in the right direction and recognizes the value of every member of the healthcare delivery team so that we can provide the very best care to our patients,” said Adrian Martinez, who has been a registered nurse at Southern Hills Hospital for 11 years. “I went into nursing because I always wanted to help people, and this profession gives me a sense of purpose. It was especially fulfilling to take care of my community during the pandemic. But it was also exhausting working alongside my fellow critical care nurses in the intensive care unit and trying to save hundreds of Covid patients struggling to breathe. My three sons were one, four and five years old at the time and I had to avoid them for months to keep them safe. This agreement acknowledges those sacrifices and our hard work, and will help retain and recruit the strong, sustainable healthcare workforce that our community urgently needs moving forward.”
SEIU Nevada Local 1107 is the largest healthcare and public service union in the state, representing nearly 20,000 workers. Together, SEIU 1107 members fight for good union jobs, quality services and a better quality of life for all working Nevadans.
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