OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was jointly issued by the CNA and Health Care Workers Union SEIU 250:
What: Nurses, caregivers, patient advocates hold press conference to announce strike When: Friday, Nov. 19 at 11 a.m. Where: Summit Medical Center, 350 Hawthorne at Webster, Oakland (Between Broadway and Telegraph)
This Friday, Nov. 19, registered nurses and hospital workers will announce and discuss details about their plans for an historic strike at 14 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, continues to put its profits before the needs of patients and has failed to comply with the state’s patient safety law requiring minimum RN-to-patient staffing ratios. Sutter has also rejected calls to provide a voice in staffing for caregivers and a training fund, as many other hospital systems have done.
In an attempt to block the efforts of its RNs and other caregivers from improving patient care, Sutter has used illegal scare tactics to intimidate and harass nurses and caregivers, who have filed over 50 unfair labor practice charges with the federal government. 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. Most 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.
“The hospital claims the JCAHO violations are only paper work, not patient care, but they have concealed the findings of the survey. The community has a right to know what, if anything, are they hiding,” asks Jan Rodolfo, RN, an oncology nurse at Summit.
“Sutter has been trying to make our hospitals into cold, profit-driven businesses,” said Shayne Silva, a licensed psych tech at Herrick who has been a health care worker for over 24 years. “Nurses and caregivers believe that we are at a historic crossroads, and we feel it is up to us to make sure Sutter focuses on the needs of patients, not just the bottom line.”
Recently, the vast majority of nurses and caregivers participated in a series of votes at each hospital and overwhelmingly approved a one day strike. 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.
Hospitals to 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 (SF), San Leandro Hospital, Sutter Delta (Antioch), Sutter Lakeside (Lakeport), Sutter Solano (Vallejo), Sutter Santa Rosa/Warrack.
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: media, Dave Bates of SEIU 250, +1-510-773-8950; or Chuck Idelson of CNA, +1-415-559-8991.
SEIU and California Nurses Association
CONTACT: media, Dave Bates of SEIU 250, +1-510-773-8950; orChuck Idelson of CNA, +1-415-559-8991
Web site: http://www.seiu250.org/