7,000 Nurses to Strike in California Stutter Hospitals

Main Category: Caregivers / Homecare
Article Date: 01 Dec 2004 - 15:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

On December 1, registered nurses and hospital workers will strike for one day at 13 Sutter hospitals throughout Northern California.

The California Nurses Association, the Health Care Workers Union SEIU Local 250, and SEIU Local 707, have formed a strong cooperation agreement and are demanding a new direction for the hospital industry to insure that patients get the best possible care.

Sutter Health, however, has failed to comply with the state's patient safety law requiring minimum RN-to-patient staffing ratios. Sutter is also bargaining in bad faith by rejecting calls to provide a voice in staffing for caregivers and a training fund, as many other hospital systems have done.

Nurses and caregivers do not want to strike, but many who have been negotiating for over 6 months say they must act now to stand up for their patients.

Sutter's record of violations is becoming increasingly apparent, in citations by state and federal health officials at several Bay Area hospitals.

Marin General has failed three government inspections this year, each so severely that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has threatened to terminate the hospital's ability to be reimbursed under Medicare. Also recently, the hospital accreditation agency JCAHO took the highly unusual step of warning Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (Berkeley/Oakland) that it was in danger of losing accreditation. These violations are occurring because Sutter has become too focused on increasing its profit margin and executive salaries.

In 2003, Sutter made $465 million in profits and its CEO, Van Johnson received a 62% pay raise to $2,339,546.

One of Sutter's illegal tactics has been to threaten a lockout in the event of a strike. Caregivers say that this threat to lock them out of their own hospitals is further proof that Sutter puts profits above all else.
v Hospitals that will be struck: Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (3 campuses in Berkeley/Oakland), California Pacific Medical Center (3 campuses in SF), Eden Medical Center (Castro Valley), St. Luke's Hospital (SF), Sutter Delta Medical Center (Antioch), Sutter Lakeside Hospital (Lakeport), Sutter Solano Medical Center (Vallejo), Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa and Sutter Warrack Hospital (Santa Rosa).

The California Nurses Association is the largest organization of RNs in California, representing 55,000 RNs in 150 facilities, and the largest independent RN organization in the nation. With 100,000 members, SEIU 250 is the largest and fastest growing health care union in the Western U.S. We represent every type of health care worker, including nursing, professional, technical, paramedic and service classifications. Our mission is to achieve high quality health care for all. SEIU Local 707 is the largest union in the North Bay, representing over 7,500 members in the public and private sectors.

CONTACT:
SEIU 250, Dave Bates 510-773-8950
CNA, Chuck Idelson 415-559-8991
http://www.seiu250.org

• Additional
• References
• Citations