CRONA
Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement
Area Representatives and Membership Meetings
January 2 and 4, 2007

Negotiations 2007
As indicated in the November 2006 minutes, CRONA submitted a written request to LPCH and SHC, as required by the CRONA contracts, to engage in negotiations starting the early part of January 2007.

On December 8, 2006, CRONA received acknowledgement of such request from the hospital. In their letter (the words in parenthesis are added for clarification) the hospital expressed that “we value our nurses very highly and recognize their dedication and commitment to providing the highest quality of care. It is our expectation that we will be able to reach an agreement on a new contract without any interruption in nursing care. However, as is the responsibility of every hospital during contact negotiations, and since we cannot be certain that no work stoppage (strike) will occur, the hospitals must and are putting contingency plans (strike plans) in place. Please note that these actions are only precautionary steps that ensure that the hospitals will continue to deliver quality care to patients and their families. No one should interpret these steps as taking anything at all away from our full commitment to reaching an agreement prior to the contract expiration March 31, 2007.”

We hope that the hospitals will commit their time, energy, personnel and financial resources in reaching an agreement with CRONA.

CRONA intends to negotiate with the hospitals in a collaborative approach. We accomplished this in 2004 and we have full intentions of doing the same this year. However, we would like to advise the CRONA membership to update their personnel and employee health records. It is necessary for each nurse to have a copy of their current RN licensure, ACLS, PALS, BLS, NRP, TB test, and other blood titers that other employers may require. We suggest that you obtain a copy of your recent employee health tests from Employee Health at Welch Road or the Satellite Office at SHC. You will need to show your ID badge in order to obtain a copy of your record. You can also fax a written request to Employee Health at 650-498-7748 and state that you need a copy of your tests. Requests submitted by email or phone will not be accepted. Please note that these actions are only precautionary steps. You should not interpret this advice as taking anything at all from CRONA’s full commitment to reaching an agreement prior to the contract expiration of March 31, 2007.

Negotiation Dates
The first day of negotiations with the hospitals is January 10, 2007. Additional dates are January 16 and 17, 2007. We will not negotiate again until February 8, 2007 (20 days) due to the unavailability of the hospital’s Legal Counsel. There is also a week in February and another week in March when the hospital’s Legal Counsel is not available for negotiations. CRONA is determined to make these negotiations successful. We will utilize all the days that we have to reach an agreement that will best serve our membership and ultimately our patients.

Negotiation Rooms
We have been informed that there is a shortage of available rooms for negotiations. It may be necessary to conduct negotiations in a hotel room and CRONA has been asked to shoulder part of the expense. Some of our members have offered their homes as possible places for negotiations. We will forward the generous offers of our members to the hospitals when it becomes necessary.

Negotiating Teams
We are conducting joint negotiations with SHC and LPCH. The Legal Counsel for CRONA is Peter Nussbaum. The Legal Counsel for the hospitals is Larry Arnold. The members of the Negotiating Teams are:
CRONA
Lorie Johnson, President
Bonnie Balfour, Exec. VP
Cris Stables, LPCH VP
Sunny Balson, L&D
Colleen Borges, 2N
Donna Borges, IICN
Paul Cole, Neonatal Transport
Ed Deffenbaugh, Cath Lab
John Green, SHC Float Pool
CeCi Kettendorf, EICU
Geralyn Martinez, Life Flight
Fred Taleghani, Peds Transport
Marivi Verbo, Main OR

LPCH/SHC Hospitals
Laurie Quintel, Dir. Employee/Labor Relations
Debra Grant, Assoc.Dir. Nursing, SHC
Lori Armstrong, Admin.Dir. Johnson Cent, LPCH
Sue Hoopes, Manager, ASC, SHC
Donna Healy, Manager, Infusion/Onc, SHC
Alice Marks, Manager, SCN Wash, LPCH
Madeleine Viden, Finance
Michael Brown, Finance

Stay Informed
During the months of February and March 2007, you need to stay informed. Please give your Area Representatives your home email addresses. We will be communicating directly with our membership through home email. We will not use the hospital email. If you have not received an email from CRONA through your home email the past three (3) months, it means we do not have your home email address. In addition, please log on to crona.org at least once a week. You can also call the CRONA office at 650-366-0156 or email crona@crona.org. If you have any questions, please contact CRONA.

Thank You For Advocating For Nurses And Ultimately Our Patients!

Sincerely,
Lorie Johnson, President
CRONA

On behalf of the CRONA Negotiation Committees