On April 26, registered nurses at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, Calif., ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement, California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) announced today.

"This was not an easy contract to negotiate," said Su-Gin Ethington, RN, a cardiac rehab nurse and bargaining team member. "We fought hard over the past six months with actions that ultimately took our message to the public. We hope this historic agreement will not only keep our experienced nurses at Henry Mayo, but also recruit new nurses to our team."

Highlights of the contract include:

• Improved patient care, staffing, and nurse advocacy provisions, empowering nurses to take the best care of their patients.
• Improvements addressing workplace violence, infectious disease protocols, training, transfer, and promotion, keeping the hospital safe and staffed with nurses who know our community.
• Economic gains include across-the-board increases ranging from 11.1 percent to 25 percent over the term of the contract. Nurses will also see increases to their uniform allowance, shift differentials, and on-call pay.

Voting on the new agreement took place on April 25 and 26. The three-year contract is retroactive.

CNA represents nearly 600 registered nurses at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 175,000 RNs nationwide.