San Francisco Department of Public Health

Grant Colfax, MD
Director of Health

City and County of San Francisco

London N. Breed
Mayor

May 27, 2019

From: Roland Pickens, Director, San Francisco Health Network (SFHN)

To: SFHN Directors and Managers
Re: Nurses’ Contract Negotiations

Dear SFHN leaders,

The City and SEIU Local 1021 have spent several months negotiating a new labor contract
for registered nurses. I am writing to provide an update on the status of these negotiations
and to address questions that many have raised regarding our progress. Please share this
update with your staff who may have concerns or questions.

The City and Union have had 20 negotiating sessions, including five with the assistance of
a neutral mediator. We have reached agreement on 36 proposed amendments to the
contract. The City has proposed a base wage increase of 11 percent over three years,
including 4 percent in raises during the first year, along with other improvements totaling a
more than $45 million investment in nurses. This is the same cost-of-living increase
extended to all other City employees whose contracts were renegotiated this year.

At the Health Department, we value our nurses. We recognize that nursing care is the
foundation of patient care. Nurses are our largest employee group – with more than 2,000
dedicated professionals who work every day to provide high-quality, compassionate care to
our patients and clients. Patient safety is our top priority, and we could not deliver on that
promise without our nurses, who care for patients every day.

The City’s settlement offer is a demonstration of our commitment to nurses. We also have
made commitments to nurse staffing increases and differential pay for difficult assignments,
and are discussing the concerns that nurses have, as we work toward completing the
contract negotiations. We are committed to reaching an agreement in time to include the
nurses’ raise in the City budget soon to be adopted by the Board of Supervisors, to ensure
there is no delay in the compensation increases our nurses deserve.

We look forward to a timely resolution that provides a fair agreement for nurses, who
continue to make the SFHN a great place for patient care.

Thank you all for everything you do every day for our patients, clients and community.

SFDPH │101 Grove Street, Room 308, San Francisco, CA 94102