Victoria Colliver, Staff Writer San Francisco Chronicle Thursday, March 20, 2008
As many as 4,000 registered nurses are expected to begin a 10-day strike this morning at eight Bay Area hospitals operated by the Sutter Health network.
This is the third action in six months against Sutter Health hospitals by nurses represented by the California Nurses Association, and today's walkout is scheduled to be the longest. The union held two-day strikes in October and December, but nurses at some facilities were kept off their jobs longer because hospital managers said they needed to hire replacement workers for longer than two days.
Management and unionized nurses remain in dispute over contract negotiations that began last spring.
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland and Berkeley, which has about 1,800 registered nurses at its two hospitals, has hired about 500 nurses for the 10-day strike. Carolyn Kemp, spokeswoman for Alta Bates Summit, said services will continue uninterrupted.
In San Francisco, hospital services will also continue as scheduled at California Pacific Medical Center's California site as well as the hospital's St. Luke's location. Nurses are not organized at the hospital's Davies and Pacific Heights center.
The union had planned a three-day strike, scheduled to begin today at the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez, a county-operated facility, but it was called off March 12 when progress was made in contract negotiations.
The nurses union won a legal victory Tuesday, when a private arbitrator ruled that health care co-payment and fee increases that went into place in January 2007 for nurses at California Pacific Medical Center violated the terms of their contract. The arbitrator ordered the hospital to reimburse nurses for the increases. Hospital officials confirmed they failed to notify the union about the increase.
Nurses on strike The following hospitals will be affected by a 10-day strike by registered nurses beginning 7 a.m. today. The nurses are expected to return to work March 31 at 7 a.m.
Sutter Delta Medical Center (Antioch)
Mills-Peninsula Health Services (Burlingame and San Mateo)
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (two Berkeley campuses and one in Oakland)
Eden Medical Center (Castro Valley)
San Leandro Hospital (San Leandro)
St. Luke's Hospital (San Francisco)
California Pacific Medical Center (San Francisco - California campus only)
Sutter Solano Medical Center (Vallejo)
Source: California Nurses Association.
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