SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A tentative agreement on a new three-year contract covering nearly 5,000 Sharp HealthCare registered nurses was reached tonight, both sides announced.
As part of the negotiations, both Sharp and the union representing the nurses agreed not to communicate the terms of the agreement until it has been ratified, according to John Cihomsky, Sharp HealthCare's vice president public relations & communications.
The Sharp Professional Nurses Network, the union representing the nurses, plans to hold a series of meetings from Monday, December 5 through Thursday, December 8 where union members will hear the details of the agreement and have a chance to discuss and vote on it, according to Jeff Rogers, a communications specialist with United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals which the Sharp bargaining unit is affiliated with.
Results of the voting are scheduled to be announced early Thursday afternoon, Rogers said.
The Sharp nurses bargaining team is recommending the members approve the contract, Rogers said.
"The unity of Sharp nurses won this agreement," said Denise Duncan, president of United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals.
"Hundreds attended the negotiating sessions for months, and rallied at the convention center in October. Thousands of nurses were prepared to give up a week's pay to win a contract that will recruit and retain the best nurses, who can give the San Diego community the best possible patient care."
A three-day strike set to begin Nov. 28 was called off Sunday after the two sides reached a tentative agreement on some matters pertaining to union membership.
