Santa Clara County nurses say no to pay raise delay

Santa Clara County displayed “Happy Nurses Week” banners across the hospitals of California’s second largest public healthcare system this month. But the nurses weren’t feeling the love.

Instead, they’re up in arms as county leaders — grappling with a crushing budget deficit — have asked to delay cost-of-living wage increases that nurses went on strike for in 2024 and won in writing with a hard-fought contract.

A letter shared with this news outlet shows county officials asked leaders of the Registered Nurses Professional Association, the union representing more than 4,500 county nurses, for a May 1 meeting to discuss a request for deferred raises — on the eve of National Nurses Week from May 6 through May 12.

County officials said they’ve made similar requests to every labor union.

Nurse union leaders said they unanimously oppose the county’s request, arguing the raises are contractually guaranteed and legally binding and the county cannot force a delay or withhold them.

“It’s a massive, massive issue,” union president Allan Kamara told San José Spotlight. “I don’t know if I can overemphasize that. Our nurses are furious.”

In the May 1 letter, County Executive James Williams tied his request to the ongoing county budget deficit that forced the county to make $200 million in cuts to social safety net services in the middle of this fiscal year. That same budget crisis will require $260 million in more cuts in the next budget cycle to absorb the worst shortfall county leaders have faced since the passage of Proposition 13 more than 45 years ago. Fueling the crisis are unprecedented federal spending cuts under H.R. 1, President Donald Trump’s spending bill that’s anticipated to cost the county $1 billion every year.

Williams referred San José Spotlight to his letter.

“Employee salary and benefit costs represent one of the largest portions of the Adopted Budget,” Williams wrote in his letter. “These are not easy conversations, and this is not a situation any of us want to be in, especially because we so deeply value the role of the county and the essential services our dedicated public servants deliver.”

Last year, voters approved a county-sponsored five-eighths cent sales tax initiative, known as Measure A, which is expected to cover $337 million of the structural deficit every year. All of the money is being allocated to the hospital system. But county leaders have warned Measure A alone won’t solve the health system’s problems.

The issue captures the heart of an impossible labor situation facing public healthcare systems and local governments as a result of federal cuts nationwide.

“If their hand is forced, the county might say, ‘Okay — we’ll agree to keep this increase that these employees rightfully deserve to navigate their lives, but we may have to do some layoffs, cut or reduce shifts or pull back on other services that impact patients,'” Angela Reddock-Wright, an employment and labor mediator and attorney in Los Angeles, told San José Spotlight. “I’m sure it does not feel good for the county to say this. There are no good choices here, and the county is trying to appeal to the union’s sense of, ‘We’re all in this together. If we can all take the hit and make the sacrifice at this time, we might come out on a more positive end once the dust settles.'”

Danielle Mahabir, a clinical nurse at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose and an area representative chair for the Registered Nurses Professional Association, said nurses recognize federal cuts have been devastating.

“I understand the county is in dire straits, but nurses are the backbone of the entire healthcare system,” Mahabir told San José Spotlight. “To even ask us to delay or defer our raise that we fought so hard for — it’s really insulting, especially in light of the fact multiple units have been running short staffed.”

In his letter, Williams pointed to a recent agreement county leaders apparently made with SEIU Local 521 — which represents more than half of the county’s total 24,000-person workforce — to extend their current labor agreement for a year with no wage increases, providing up to a $1,000 lump sum payment for eligible employees. The letter also noted that in 2009, following the Great Recession, nearly every county labor union agreed to two-year contract extensions with no raises.

Reddock-Wright said it would be challenging for the county to compel the union without opening avenues for unfair labor or breach of contract charges. The cost of living adjustments were earned after thousands of nurses went on strike for better pay and working conditions in 2024. The strike ended after three days.

“The biggest challenge here is that it’s already been bargained for,” Reddock-Wright said.

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.