Contra Costa nurses press board on bargaining: safety, staffing and contract protections

A large contingent of county nurses used the Nov. 4 public-comment period to press the Board of Supervisors to ensure bargaining demands at the county’s labor table protect patient safety and worker rights.

Representatives of the California Nurses Association and many front-line nurses described concerns about staffing, infection control, workplace violence and discipline practices. They asked the board to support contract language that includes just-cause discipline, successorship protections (to preserve jobs if services are transferred), clearer workplace-violence procedures and stronger infection-control safeguards established in the collective-bargaining agreement.

Several speakers described practical effects: experienced nurses being bypassed for desirable shifts, inconsistent follow-up after patient assaults, and the compounding effect of federal and state policy uncertainty on local hospital finances and staffing. Nurse speakers said they remain committed to public-sector care but argued that dignity, predictable processes and safer working conditions are required to retain experienced staff in the county system.

A sampling of comments: - "Listen to us because we are the nurses," said a union representative, urging the board to accept contract protections for safety and discipline. - A perinatal nurse who said she has worked in multiple states urged respect for seniority and warned that retention suffers when long-serving staff lose access to regular shifts. - Multiple speakers told the board they fear a loss of services if the county does not commit to protections that would make public-sector jobs sustainable.

Board members publicly thanked nurses for their service and reiterated there were no current plans to sell county hospitals or clinics. The comments were entered into the record for supervisors and county bargaining staff to consider as negotiations continue.

Context Nurses said they began bargaining in July and that many of their items concern process and worker rights rather than wages alone. They asked supervisors to use the county’s authority to ensure public hospitals remain staffed and to resolve bargaining questions that affect patient access and care continuity.