Striking Nurses Locked Out at Five Bay Area Hospitals

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/10/15/striking-nurses-locked-out-at-five-bay-area-hospitals/

by James Parks, Oct 15, 2007

Nurses at five Bay Area hospitals were locked out when they tried to return to work Oct. 12, after a two-day strike. Nearly 5,000 registered nurses—members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC)—took a stand for improving patient care in the two-day strike at 15 Northern California hospitals. All but two of the hospitals are part of the giant Sutter Health chain and include some of the largest hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area.



Locked out are nurses at Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center’s facilities in Oakland and Berkeley; Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley; San Leandro Hospital; Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo; and Fremont Medical Center in Yuba City, northeast of Sacramento.

The nurses walked out after the hospitals presented their last and final contract offer, which did not address the nurses’ main concerns. The nurses say the Sutter affiliates provide inadequate staffing, particularly to cover nurses during breaks and during their meals. They also say they have been unable to negotiate language with Sutter on safety issues, such as reducing injuries that can occur when they lift patients, and have not come to agreement on health care and pension benefits.

Zenei Cortez, a member of CNA/NNOC’s Council of Presidents, says:

For a corporation that pretends it respects and values its RNs, the lockout sends a very different, shameful message of retaliation. It’s an insult not only to the nurses, but also to the patients who deserve access to their experienced, qualified RNs.

FULL story at link.

[TomInTib]

1. Sutter is already bringing in replacements.

They have been here for a few days.

There are these companies that have traveling squads of nurses to alleviate shortages (which are constant here due to cost-of-living).

These companies supply the replacements. At much higher wages than the regular nurses receive.

[midnight]

2. These pool nurses that are being supplied by the Temp. co.

do charge much more than the nurses who are striking get. This should drive home a point to those thoughtless administrators. I hope those nurses that were striking form their own agency and start charging what they are worth.