Sutter Health and unionized workers announced a tentative contract agreement Saturday, averting a potential strike across the nonprofit health care provider’s Northern California facilities.

“I think the new contract meets what we were looking for,” SEUI-UHW union steward Michael Pineda told this news organization. “It was just a really awesome deal. We were ready to put up the fight if we had to, but I feel like Sutter heard that and said, ‘Let’s invest more into the employee.’”

The union had been negotiating with Sutter Health since July for a new contract, citing short staffing, strenuous work environments and high employee turnover.

Earlier this month, union members at facilities in Oakland, Santa Rosa, Roseville, Berkeley, Lakeport, Vallejo, Antioch, Castro Valley, and San Francisc

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