Stockton, CA – The San Joaquin County bargaining team met with the California Nurses Association (CNA) bargaining team today, January 16, 2025 as scheduled.  The County and CNA agreed to eight additional tentative agreements, three of which included economic enhancements, bringing the total number of tentative agreements to 18. At this time, the teams have not agreed on 20 of CNA’s proposals.

During today’s bargaining session, the County provided CNA with a revised Last Best and Final Offer which included an increase to base wages, bringing the overall value of the County’s proposal to $54.4 million. The County negotiating team asked CNA to take the package proposal to their membership for a vote.  CNA's Chief Negotiator, Matthew Schaeffer, refused, telling  the County team that they do not take proposals to their members that they have not tentatively agreed to or recommended.

As a result, the County declared impasse and will initiate formal impasse procedures as outlined in the County’s Employer-Employee Relations Policy.

The County team has turned their attention to prepare for CNA’s scheduled one day strike on January 17, 2025 and will work with impacted departments to ensure patient safety and to minimize impacts to  the patients served by San Joaquin General Hospital.

BACKGROUND

On January 7, 2025, CNA issued the County a Notice of Intent to Strike on January 17, 2025. CNA represents approximately 1047 full and part-time registered nurse employees who work at San Joaquin General Hospital, Public Health Services, Correctional Health Services, Behavioral Health Services, Emergency Medical Services, and SJ Health Clinics.

San Joaquin County and CNA began bargaining a successor Memorandum of Understanding on March 14, 2024, have met a total of 19 times and reached eighteen tentative agreements, but have been unable to reach an overall agreement that would be both reasonable and fiscally responsible. The County is always mindful of its responsibilities to the taxpayers; any agreement that is reached with CNA must be viable in the long term.  Additional information can be found here.

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