- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Nurses to hold one-day strike at Sutter hospitals
The California Nurses Association, or CNA, reported that more than 8,000 registered nurses and health care workers will take part in the strike.
The union said it’s protesting Sutter Health’s refusal to address proposals about safe staffing and health and safety protections, including issues with contact tracing and stockpiling personal protective equipment.
The one-day strike will run from 7 a.m. Monday to 6:59 a.m. Tuesday, the union said. Picketing will take place from 7 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m.
In Lakeport, the picketing is expected to take place at the hospital’s entrance on Hill Road East.
That’s the same location where nurses at Sutter Lakeside were stationed during an informational picket at the hospital in March. In that picket, 15 facilities also were impacted, as Lake County News has reported.
At the time of the informational picket last month, union officials had reported that they were not yet at the point of calling a strike.
However, the union said nearly unanimous strike authorization votes followed in March.
Sutter Health released a statement on Sunday evening that says, “Despite resuming negotiations with the involvement of a federal mediator, the California Nurses Association has refused to call off their strike beginning 7 a.m. Monday.
“Work stoppages at 18 of our sites — even for a single day — require complex and costly preparation, and obligate us to make plans that our teams, patients and communities can rely on. Given the uncertainty of a looming strike, and in order to provide surety for our patients, communities and care teams, we will staff our hospitals on Monday with the contracted replacement workers where needed,” the Sutter Health statement continued.
“We hope the CNA union will call off this strike so our nurses can return to work and do what they do best — care for our patients. We remain committed to continue bargaining as long as negotiations are progressing effectively toward averting the strike,” Sutter Health’s statement concluded.
CNA said Sutter Health’s registered nurses and health care workers have been in negotiations since June 2021 for a new contract, “with little to no movement on key issues.”
The union is urging Sutter Health’s management to invest in nursing staff and agree to a contract that provides safe staffing that allows nurses to provide safe and therapeutic care and
pandemic readiness protections that require the hospitals to invest in personal protective equipment stockpiles and comply with California's PPE stockpile law.
“The Sutter nurses voted for this strike,” said Renee Waters, a trauma neuro intensive care RN with 26 years of experience, in a statement released by the union.
Waters said they are striking because Sutter is not transparent about the stockpile of personal protective equipment supplies and contact tracing.
“They resist having nurses directly involved in planning and implementation of policies that affect all of us during a pandemic,” said Waters, who added that “a fair contract is needed to retain experienced nurses, have sufficient staffing and training, and ensure we have the resources we need to provide safe and effective care for our patients. Nurses are fighting back against Sutter putting profits before patients and health care workers.”
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