Unionized doctors and dentists who work in hospitals and other health care facilities operated by Los Angeles County will receive cost-of-living increases and bonuses under new agreements with the county reached after more than two years of negotiations and threaten a strike.
The tentative agreements with a pair of bargaining units represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists are expected to be voted on by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this month.
Members of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists had prepared to strike in December, complaining that inadequate benefits had hampered recruitment and retention and driven up vacancy rates for critical positions in county facilities, including for psychiatrists in the prisons.
Much of the dispute has centered on the “Megaflex” benefits package that LA County offers to more than 14,000 employees, including managerial and administrative staff, most of whom are non-union. That package gives workers an extra 14.5% to 19% on top of their base wages to purchase benefits and allows them to keep any unused portion as income, county officials said.
UAPD insisted that its members should receive these benefits. The Department of Health countered that they already had a “comprehensive benefits package” — the same package that applies to more than 35,000 other employees in the province — and that giving them all a more expensive package would prevent the province from extending its incentives concentrate on healthcare. most difficult employees to recruit.
The two sides also sparred over the cost of Megaflex's expansion: At one point, UAPD officials estimated the additional cost at about $20 million per year based on current wages, but provincial officials had not done so. the expected costs are mapped out of more than $86 million per year, with costs increasing with each salary increase.
The planned strike in December was suspended after the province and the union agreed to seek advice from external experts on the consequences of Megaflex's expansion.
In late April, the UAPD announced that its negotiating teams had reached tentative agreements with the province, which were ratified by union members in late May.
Under the deal, employees would receive a cost-of-living increase consistent with other workers in the county, with additional increases for some positions ranging from 2.75% to 19.25%, according to the county executive. Starting salaries were also increased for some medical specialties, such as neurology.
In addition, the province agreed to enhance the benefits “no later than January 1, 2026,” the headquarters said. The additional benefits include a 401(k) plan, as well as short-term disability benefits for doctors, who had complained that doctors were not getting enough paid time off to recover from childbirth.
The existing set of benefits puts female doctors who plan to become pregnant “at a disadvantage compared to private hospitals in the area,” says Dr. Michelle Armacost, a physician specializing in neurology at one of the provincial facilities, said in a statement released by the union. . “We demanded fair benefits and were prepared to strike for that. The province heard us and we prevailed.”
In addition to these increases, provincial employees not covered by Megaflex will receive an annual bonus of $14,000 on top of their base salary, the CEO said. Union officials also said the deal includes a “physician loyalty bonus for residents who choose to remain with the county after their residency.”
“These new agreements establish competitive wages and attractive benefits, which we hope will allow us to fill critical vacancies in our county hospitals and other facilities and retain the talented healthcare workers who already provide essential services to our residents of the province,” said the CEO. in a statement.
County officials did not immediately provide an estimate of the cost of the new contract with the unionized physicians.
The benefits have long been a point of contention for provincial doctors. Physicians employed by LA County were cut off from Megaflex benefits more than two decades ago, a few years after voting to unionize.
At the time, county officials said such benefits were only available to non-union workers. “The doctors knew very well what they were getting into,” then-supervisor Don Knabe said in 2001.
Labor officials branded it an attempt to break the fledgling union, calculating the value of the benefits package at the time for some senior doctors at $19,000 or more. State legislators, that is the province has banned of removing workers from a benefits plan because they belonged to a union, making the law retroactive to before LA County's move. The UAPD also sued the county, ultimately securing a settlement of more than $10 million.
The union later negotiated a new agreement with the province, under which existing employees at Megaflex were hired but new hires were placed on a different plan, the province's head said. According to the province, only a small number of UAPD members – fewer than 200 – had Megaflex benefits in December.
In a report last year to county supervisors, Dr. Christina R. Ghaly, director of the Department of Health, said that “steady salary increases have been negotiated over the years, taking into account the fact that this group does not receive Megaflex benefits .'
UAPD President Dr. Stuart Bussey dismissed the idea that they had 'negotiated Megaflex' at a public meeting last year. In the past, “recruitment wasn't as bad as it is now,” and there was no state law in place limiting retirement benefits for government workers, Bussey told the crowd. “Times have changed.”
In a recent statement to union members, Bussey said UAPD members had “refused to settle until we reach a collective bargaining agreement that prioritizes patient care with competitive pay and benefits.”
“Your determination and patience have paid off and we look forward to working with the province to fill vacant positions.”
