Santa Clara Nurses Fight Raise Delay

Santa Clara County nurses are pushing back against a county request to delay previously negotiated cost-of-living raises, opening a new labor fight as officials try to close a widening budget gap. San José Spotlight reported on May 19 that county officials asked leaders of the Registered Nurses Professional Association, or RNPA, for a May 1 meeting to discuss deferred raises. RNPA leaders said they unanimously opposed the request and argued the raises are legally binding under the contract ratified after the union’s 2024 strike. County Executive James Williams tied the request to a budget crisis that county officials say has been worsened by federal funding cuts. ### What exactly did the county ask nurses to delay? A May 1 letter from county officials asked RNPA leaders to meet about deferring wage increases that nurses say were negotiated into their current contract, according to San José Spotlight. The union represents more than 4,500 county nurses, the report said. James Williams, in the letter cited by San José Spotlight, said employee salary and benefit costs make up one of the largest parts of the county budget. (sanjosespotlight.com) He said the request came as the county works through midyear cuts and prepares for deeper reductions in the next budget cycle. ### Why do nurses say the county cannot do that? RNPA leaders told San José Spotlight that the raises are contractually guaranteed and that the county cannot unilaterally delay or withhold them. (sanjosespotlight.com) Allan Kamara, the union’s president, called the issue “massive” and said nurses were angry about the request. The current RNPA agreement runs from June 24, 2024 through Oct. 24, 2027, according to the contract posted by Santa Clara County. (sanjosespotlight.com) The county and the union announced the four-year successor deal on May 25, 2024, after more than 88% of RNPA members voted to ratify it ahead of Board of Supervisors approval on June 4, 2024. ### How does this connect to last year’s strike? RNPA members struck from April 2 to April 4, 2024, after months of bargaining over pay and working conditions. At the time, San José Spotlight reported that more than 3,000 nurses were preparing to walk out, with the union citing staffing levels, workplace violence and compensation. (files.santaclaracounty.gov) Susan York, then RNPA president, said in May 2024 that the final contract improved pay and working conditions and addressed staffing and scheduling so that patient acuity remained part of nurse-to-patient ratios. The county said the deal was intended to balance support for nurses with what Williams called “fiscal realities.” (sanjosespotlight.com) ### How big is Santa Clara County’s budget problem? Santa Clara County officials said on May 1 that the recommended budget for the coming fiscal year faces a $787 million deficit in a budget of nearly $15 billion. Williams said the county was recommending a net reduction of 464 jobs across safety-net programs, while trying to preserve access to care. (news.santaclaracounty.gov) County officials and local reporting have tied the shortfall to federal spending cuts under H.R. 1. San José Spotlight reported that Williams said those cuts could cost the county about $1 billion a year, and that the county had already been forced to make $200 million in cuts in the middle of the current fiscal year, with another $260 million in reductions needed in the next cycle. (sanjosespotlight.com) ### Didn’t voters approve new money for the hospital system? Santa Clara County voters approved Measure A, a five-eighths cent sales tax increase, in November 2024. San José Spotlight reported that county officials expect the measure to generate about $337 million a year and that Williams has proposed allocating all of it to the public hospital system. (sanjosespotlight.com) Williams has also said Measure A will not by itself close the health system’s structural gap. That has left county officials weighing cuts, position eliminations and labor savings while unions argue the county should honor existing agreements. ### What happens next? The next test is the county budget process. San José Spotlight reported on May 1 that the Board of Supervisors could still change Williams’ recommendations before adopting the budget by June 31. (sanjosespotlight.com) RNPA has said it unanimously opposes any raise deferral, and Williams has said the county has made similar requests to every labor union. (sanjosespotlight.com) That leaves the dispute moving on parallel tracks: budget adoption at the Board of Supervisors and any further talks between county management and the nurses’ union. (sanjosespotlight.com)