A new contract agreement has been reached between Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 715 and both Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

The SEIU membership, representing 1,412 out of 8,432 employees at SHC and LPCH in jobs such as housekeeping, food service, nursing assistants, and various technicians, ratified the contract in a vote Jan. 20.

“We are incredibly pleased to have reached an agreement for a three-year contract with the SEIU,” said Martha H. Marsh, president and chief executive officer of SHC and Christopher Dawes, her counterpart at LPCH. “This contract preserves the hospitals’ ability to maintain high quality patient care and provides employees substantial wage and benefit increases. With this new contract, everyone wins — our employees, our patients, and our community.”

Larry Shuer, chief of staff, said in a statement, “We look forward to working with all of our colleagues in all of the various positions at SHC to help make Stanford the very best medical center in the world.”

Negotiations on the new agreement began last September and continued until January’s ratification vote. Highlights of the new contract include:

Increased wages over three years averaging at least 12 percent

An additional 2.5 percent to 10 percent salary adjustment for many job positions

Continued 100 percent employer paid health coverage for employees and their children, 75 percent employer paid health coverage for spouses

100 percent employer paid health coverage for spouses of employees earning less than $50,000 a year 

Increased retirement contributions for employees with 15 years or more service

Increased on-call and call-back pay and added assurances related to job security and planned growth

“We wish to thank our SEIU employees and its leadership,” said Marsh and Dawes after the ratification vote was announced. “There could not have been an agreement without their support and dedication to the patients and families we serve. We value all of our employees and are pleased that we could reach a contract agreement that is fair and equitable for all.”