Subject: [SocialistWorker.org] Xmas Eve strike of the nurses
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http://socialistworker.org/2013/01/10/xmas-eve-strike-of-the-nurses
Report: John Gallagher
======== XMAS EVE STRIKE OF THE NURSES =======================================
Nurses remain steadfast in their struggle at Sutter Health, reports John
Gallagher.
January 10, 2013
SOME 5,000 nurses in the Bay Area staged a one-day strike on December 24 to
stop cuts to nurse and patient-care standards proposed by medical giant
Sutter Health.
While sticking points at the different facilities vary, some of the nurses'
concerns include nurse-to-patient ratios (San Jose), elimination of paid
sick-leave and medical-leave benefits (Oakland and Berkeley) and elimination
of health care benefits for nurses and tech workers with schedules of less
than 30 hours per week (East Bay).
The cuts hit mental health services hardest. Sutter has slashed the number of
inpatient beds for both adult and adolescent mental health patients. Because
the strike was scheduled for December 24, just days after the horrific school
shooting in Connecticut, striking nurses included a "Vigil for Peace."
"At a time when mental illness is on the rise, Sutter Health in particular
has made major cuts in services throughout its psychiatric units. Adolescent,
adult and geriatric--nothing has been spared," said Efren Garza, an
adolescent psychiatric nurse at Sutter.
Sutter Health is one of the most profitable health care providers in the
country, with profits exceeding $4 billion since 2005. Sutter executives'
compensation has doubled during the past four years, and its top 28
executives made more than $1 million in total compensation last year. Sutter
CEO Pat Fry "earned" more than $5.2 million in 2011 while Sutter East Bay
Region President David Bradley's 2011 compensation exceeded $1.6 million.
Meanwhile, Sutter is shortchanging nurses and patients. The December 24
strike was the eighth of its kind in the last year, and yet Sutter still
seems committed to its drive to bust the union.
According to a National Nurses United press release [1], Sutter nurses even
sent a letter to Sutter executives offering to call off the strike if Sutter
management agreed to "agree to withdraw demands for sweeping and unwarranted
reductions in patient care protections and other contract standards, which is
at the heart of the dispute between the California Nurses
Association/National Nurses United and local Sutter hospitals." Sutter
refused.
But the commitment of Sutter executives to driving down wages and benefits
for nurses even if it means sacrificing patient care has been matched by the
determination of nurses to resist them.
"Like so many of my colleagues, I have raised a family here in San Jose,"
said Amy Santos, a registered nurse in the telemetry care unit at San Jose's
Regional Medical Center. "We need to have patient care protections such as
safe patient-lifting teams and appropriate staffing at all times as patients
are admitted and discharged throughout the day. That is not the case on the
majority of our units at this time."
Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto is a registered nurse at Alta Bates Summit Medical
Center in Berkeley, Calif. On the eve of the strike, she explained that her
determination--like thousands of other Sutter nurses--is reinforced by her
concern for the patients she treats.
"We do not want to strike and have offered to settle with our current
contract, but Sutter refuses, appearing more interested in union busting than
negotiating," said Pardue-Okimoto. "As a nurse, I will never give up my union
rights as that gives me a voice in the hospital and gives the patient an
advocate. My special interest is not making money; it is delivering quality
care to my patients."
Sutter Health followed previous one-day strikes with four-day lockouts,
claiming it had no choice because of an unbreakable five-day contract with
the company supplying the scab nurses. But except in San Jose, this one-day
strike didn't trigger the customary five-day lockout, raising doubts that
Sutter imposed the lockout for any reason other than to punish the nurses.
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[1] http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/entry/sutter-rns-offer-to-postpone-strike-if-hospitals-withdraw-concession-demand/
