About 7,000 Los Angeles County nurses, who are represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 721, have reached a tentative agreement with the county.
The tentative deal averts a strike that was slated to affect the Department of Health Services, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health in facilities throughout the county, according to a May 26 union news release.
The three-day strike was planned for June. But with the strike averted, nurses in Los Angeles County will join other SEIU Local 721-represented county workers to vote on ratification.
"Our LA County nurses have made incredible sacrifices on the front line, so we drove a hard bargain," David Green, SEIU 721 president, said in the release. "This is why it was so important to us to negotiate not just for better compensation but for a real plan that addresses nurse retention. COVID impacted our ranks, which were already being hit hard by years of underfunding for public healthcare. Now, we've got a commitment to address this problem and we've got the power of our union to make sure the plan materializes."
The county also praised the agreement.
"We have now reached tentative agreements with all SEIU Local 721 bargaining units, and we will now turn our attention to negotiations with the Coalition of County Unions," the county said in a statement shared with Becker's on May 27. "In all our negotiations, the county's objective is to reach fair and fiscally responsible agreements that recognize the essential contributions of our valued workforce."
SEIU Local 721 represents registered nurses and supervising registered nurses in the county.