SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — As a second nurses strike is looming, the union representing nurses at Rady Children's Hospital has come to a tentative collective bargaining agreement with hospital officials.
Christian Castro, a spokesperson for United Nurses of Children's Hospital Teamsters Local 1699, says the agreement was reached after "more money was put on the table." He says the nurses will start voting on this tentative agreement Thursday morning.
ABC 10News earlier reported that the nurses at Rady have demanded a 30% raise over three years. At this point, the full terms of the deal are unclear; however, a UNOCH email shared with our newsroom indicates the hospital is including a $1,000 bonus for every registered nurse in the union as part of its best and final offer.
Additionally, the email states that if the nurses don't ratify the deal on Thursday, the hospital will lower the first-year raise from 9% to 8%.
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Earlier in the negotiations, the nurses turned down an offer that would've netted them a 25% raise over three years.
The nurses were scheduled to carry out a five-day strike, beginning Monday, Aug. 19 and wrapping up early in the morning on Saturday, Aug. 24. More than 1,600 employees, including nurses, therapists and technicians, are prepared to strike, depending on the outcome of the vote.
The union had denied the hospital's previous three offers during this negotiation process.
The nurses went on strike once during these negotiations, for two days in late July.
Hospital officials released the following statement about the negotiations and tentative agreement:
"Today the negotiating committees for Rady Children’s and UNOCH/Teamsters Local 1699 reached a tentative agreement on terms for a new collective bargaining agreement covering union-represented nurses. UNOCH will present the new tentative agreement for a vote by its members on Thursday, August 15.
"The Hospital is hopeful that this tentative agreement will be ratified by UNOCH nurses, resulting in a new three-year contract."
Financial records uncovered by Team 10 show that Rady Children's Hospital made $1.2 billion in profit from fiscal years 2019 to 2023, and $412 million of that was earned last year.
The hospital says it has a contingency plan in place to keep its doors open if the nurses end up going on strike again.
