By admin 
The union representing nurses in University of California hospitals is accusing the medical system of implementing a new schedule at a facility in Oakland without adhering to state labor laws.
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California Nurses Association filed a charge earlier this month with the Public Employment Relations Board, where it says the University of California required many nurses at the system’s Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland to work 12-hour shifts when the collective bargaining agreement allows eight- or 10-hour work days.
The hospital informed union officials of the scheduling adjustment, which started in mid-July, on March 5, according to the PERB filing. Union officials responded that same day to start the bargaining process.
Hospital employees were sent a survey by the UCSF hospital about nurses’ preferred shifts in early May, according to the filing. The union expressed concerns about the solicitation in an email, saying implementation efforts should not be taken before negotiations are complete.
Meanwhile, the hospital system accuses the union of not negotiating.
“While CNA demands to bargain the impacts of this change, it cannot suspend the bargaining process by refusing to participate,” the hospital’s labor relations consultant, Keenan Ng, wrote in an email to union officials. “As I have noted before, the University looks forward to reviewing CNA’s proposal and continuing to bargain the impacts of the change.”
The union’s offers a different explanation as to why a proposal to counter the March 5 announcement wasn’t submitted by early May.
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“CNA is diligently working on a counter and response but a lot of our time is spent listening to complaints about individual managers discussing different processes and starting rumors on how things will roll out,” CNA Chief Nurse Representative Aina Gagui wrote in an email to hospital officials.
Union officials asked to undergo a negotiation meeting on or before May 20, when the announcement was scheduled to be sent to employees. It wasn’t until May 13 that the union sent a request for information related to the change. The union a week later proceeded to send a cease and desist to hinder the hospital from implementing the scheduling change.
“Directing employees to comply with proposed schedule changes before completion of bargaining is an Unfair Labor Practice,” CNA Labor Representative Vince Steele wrote in the cease and desist email to the hospital.
Both the union and a spokesperson for the hospital did not respond to The Bee’s inquiry in time for publication.
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