After 6 months of bargaining and many hours of negotiations, we have reached a Tentative Agreement. This is the best agreement we believe we can get without going on strike:

Now we have to vote:
Vote YES to accept the tentative agreement OR
Vote NO to go on strike

Learn more about how we got here.

Click here when you are ready to vote and have your unique Username and Password from your rep or leader.

The tentative agreement summary is as follows:

Wages

• 3% raise each year for years 1-3 of the contract; 4% increase in year 4 – that’s $56 million more for Sutter workers over the next four years.
• Raises will take effect the first full pay period after Sep 13 each year
• Additional raises for classifications that are below the area market as detailed below in the local wins section

Benefits

• Protects current Health, Dental, & Vision for another 4 years
• Eliminates existing copays for services that should be free of charge as defined by the ACA/Obamacare, including annual physicals, mammograms, and other preventative care.
• Employees who waive health insurance will receive a $1200/yr rebate; employees who waive dental insurance will receive $130/yr
• New “No Surprise Billing” protections. Employees will not be billed out-of-network costs for services received at a Sutter facility or Sutter affiliate
• Clear language allowing for up to 2 days of unpaid time off/year
  COBRA and EAP premiums paid lump sum as part of severance

One Sutter

• Eden, Delta and ABSMC will be combined into one, more powerful, unified contract – the first step towards uniting all of Sutter in one contract. We have more bargaining power united than divided into separate groups.

Retirement

• Everyone currently enrolled in the traditional pension will get to keep it (all non-union Sutter employees lost this option). New hires will not be able to choose this plan.
• Effective January 1, 2023, the guaranteed return on the Cash Balance Plan (the plan 90% of us are in) will increase 40% from 2.5% to 3.5%. This will substantially increase retirement accounts over the term of our employment at Sutter.

Education and Protecting the Future

• $2 million per year in funding from Sutter’s Community Benefit Fund (money they are required by law to spend on community projects) to provide education and certification to us and our family members and friends to bring them into the healthcare field and improve staffing in our hospitals.
• Managers must give employees 30 days notice if they’ve not completed required eLearning modules and work with them on a schedule to complete
• Modules can be completed at home with prior approval
• Managers will work with employees upon returning from any leaves of absence to be able to complete their modules
• New language ensuring paid education leave is processed on the same pay period its submitted

Job Security

• Management must explore all reasonable alternatives before any temporary or permanent layoffs
• Alternatives can include, among other options, retraining into new positions and transferring to positions at other Sutter hospitals

Pandemic Health and Safety

• Meetings to resolve pandemic concerns will be held within 72 hrs with hospital leadership with authority to resolve issues immediately
• The Union may request monthly safety meetings during any Epidemic/Pandemic
• PPE must be available to employees on all shifts/days
• Recycled and/or expired PPE shall not be used unless specifically approved by CDC or Dept of Public Health
• Related policies/guidelines will be readily available to all employees and all any changes will be communicated to necessary employees and the Union in real time

LOCAL WINS

ABSMC

• New language for voluntary hours reduction with management approval
• New seniority based order for cancelations
• Additional 1% increase for Central Processing Tech II and Lead Central Processing Tech
• New wage scale structure (see chart) with 10 steps instead of 7, resulting in add’l increases for Dist Tech, Lic Psych Tech, Monitor Tech, Patient Transporter, Rehab Svs Aide, LVN, Associate Care II – IV Cert, LVN IV Cert, Associate Care I, ER Unit Clerk, and Unit Asst
• Increase cafeteria meal allowance by $2
• New language clearly defining policy and rules on schedule change requests
• All job vacancy notices will be sent to a Union designated email address
• Will evaluate weight of carts for FNS floor stock position and if it regularly exceeds 50 pounds push/pull weight, it will be added to Heavy Duty Pay

CPMC Mission Bernal

• Additional 1% for Lab Asst at ratification
• Merge RRT and RCP wages into a single scale with new maximum rates
• Maintains 5% premium for RRT/Clinical coordinator with new wage scale
• Clarified PTO accumulation language to avoid under-accumulation
• Transport listed in department listings
• Incorporate Medical Equipment Tech agreement into the CBA
• Put back the ESL conversion at retirement language into the contract
• Workers protected from employers mandating bilingual services
• All job vacancy notices will be sent to a Union designated email address
• Broadened EVS heavy duty pay to include linen work
• Updated bulletin board listing
• Stopped Sutter from imposing significantly lower starting wages for Surgical Techs

Delta

• Reclassifies two unit secretaries to Schedulers with significant pay increases
• RTs all go to a single job title and wage scale and place employees on the higher wage scale

Eden

• New clear language on a seniority based process when a rebid is necessary
• Stopped Sutter’s attempt to freeze the wages of materials specialists in the third year of the contract
• Weekend Shift Differential; replaced $5.60 flat rate with $.75/hr

Lakeside

• New seniority based order for cancellations
• Brand new wage scales for all classifications (see chart) resulting in an additional 1.8% average increase
• New top step on scale for all classifications ensuring a minimum additional increase of 2% on employee’s anniversary date of hire

Roseville

• Additional 2% increase for all Surgical Techs, Anesthesia Techs, and Sterile Processing Techs
• Collapse all current Respiratory Therapy jobs into a single RCP II with a new wage scale starting at of 47.23 and maximum rate of 57.59 – resulting in year one increases of 3-11% depending on your current step on wage scale
• PTO requests responded to within 5 days with either a yes or no answer
• Increase premium to $2.25/hr for per diems
• When employees in radiology promote up the career ladder they will now move to the same step on their new wage scale instead of the min $.10/hr increase currently in the contract
• Employees can request interpretation assistance in investigatory meetings
  Language ensuring staffing committees are rescheduled within 14 days if canceled

Santa Rosa

• Additional 2% at ratification for all RTs, CPT Lab Assistant II and III, Surgical Tech II, and Ultrasound Tech II
• Additional 1% at ratification for Nuc Med Tech II, Cardio Tech, MRI Tech II, and CT Tech
• New pay scale (see chart) for Cook, Anesthesia Tech, ED Tech, Patient Access Rep, and Tele Tech/CSA: Placement on new scale once agreement is ratified
• New pay scale (see chart) resulting in additional increases for 35 other classifications of at least 2% (5% + total in the first year)
• All RT positions become Respiratory Specialists or RCP II – no loss in pay
• HIS Float wages increased 5% to match ROI Associate, who will be retrained to perform duties of HIS Float positions when needed
• Increases standby rate for all employees to 50% of base pay
• Employees can chose between PTO and unpaid time when departments are closed during recognized holidays
• New language assuring proper training and materials if changes or upgrades are made to electronic health records
• Per diems must now be available to work at least one major and one minor holiday
• Side letter agreement clearly defining Lead roles and responsibilities, how they are assigned, and protecting employees who don’t want to take on lead assignments
  Employees may choose to use PTO or unpaid time off if their department is closed around a recognized holiday

Solano

• Additional 1% at ratification for the following: ED Tech, Sterile Processing Tech, Lead Sterile Processing tech, ROI Team Member, Anesthesia Tech, Ward Clerk, Surg Tech
  Collapse OR Tech jobs into single classifications and place employees at the higher of the two scales
• Collapse RT jobs into two positions, place employees at higher wage scales, and an additional wage increase of 2%
• 3% Lump sum bonus in lieu of increase in third year for the following: Surgery Scheduler, Central Dist Tech, Lead Central Dist Tech
• Clear language on paycheck corrections; underpayments and overpayments