Henry Mayo and the California Nurses Association have been at odds for months over a single issue, which had left both sides without a contract for weeks, officials said.

The nursing staff and Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital officials are unable to come to terms over, ironically, conflict resolution, or arbitration.

The sticking point thus far has been how the nurses’ group, CNA, and hospital administrators, agree to resolve grievances with the hospital.

Hospital officials want the nurses to agree to arbitration, which would allow the hospital to resolve disputes through an agreed-upon third party negotiator. Nurses’ union officials said the offer represents a threat to their constitutional rights to use the legal system to resolve a workplace dispute.

Nurses and their representatives expressed concern over signing the new deal because they feel it’s a threat to their right to sue if, for example, a nurse feel there’s been age discrimination, said Robbie Bailey, a member of the CNA who’s been active in past contract negotiations.

The new arbitration agreement mandates any grievance be filed within 10 days, making it harder for a nurse to make the kind of case necessary to prove systemic discrimination, Bailey said. The new deal would take away the efficacy of the complaints’ “cumulative effect.”

Under the new agreement, the nurses would have the exact same legal ability to file a complaint against the hospital, said Mark Puleo, vice president and chief of human resources for Henry Mayo.

“(CNA representatives) say that we‘re demanding that the nurses waive their rights to sue their employer, which is not true,” Puleo said. “Under mandatory arbitration, nurses have the absolute right to sue the hospital — or go to any state or federal agency. (The contract) doesn’t take that right away.”

The hospital had two grievances filed in the last year, according to Bernita Jenkins, a CNA representative.

Of those two filings, one was dropped in favor of legal representation, and the CNA wrote a grievance for a hostile work environment, which Jenkins said was denied by Puleo and the hospital.

Hospital officials would not comment on either of the personnel cases Monday, or figures on the projected cost savings if the new arbitration system is approved.

“If this (arbitration) article is in place, more experienced nurses will leave because of the punitive atmosphere,” Jenkins said.

Puleo countered that arbitration “make the process quicker and it doesn’t bog down the court system.”

The nurses and hospital have been without a contract since Jan. 21, officials said Monday, and the next meeting to discuss the contract is scheduled for April 20.

The California Nurses Association is planning their protest for outside the hospital on Thursday, April 9 from 5-8 p.m.