Sunrise, health care workers draft contract

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2003 | 11:03 a.m.

The state's largest hospital and a union representing more than 7,000 health care workers in Southern Nevada have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract.

Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and Sunrise Children's Hospital and the Service Employees International Union Local 1107 jointly announced Tuesday that they had concluded negotiations that began in March. A ratification vote is scheduled later this week.

"We are pleased to have reached a reasonable agreement that benefits our employees and our community," hospital president and chief executive A. Allan Stipe said in a statement issued by the hospital and the union.

"Our new agreement addresses the needs of our patients and will help with recruitment and retention of the best health care talent in the region," added Melanie Sisson, vice president of SEIU Local 1107 and a registered nurse at Sunrise's intensive care unit for 23 years.

Details of the contract were not disclosed, but at the heart of the negotiations were pay and benefit issues. Union officials said the market rate for registered nurses is around $30 an hour, while the top pay for RNs at Sunrise is $28 an hour.

Union officials rallied at Sunrise Hospital in June, days before the expiration of the previous contract the SEIU had with the 730-bed hospital.

The SEIU represents more than 12,000 workers in Clark County, including more than 7,000 health-care workers at University Medical Center, Desert Springs, Valley and Sunrise hospitals and the Clark County Health District.