UC Health System Nurses Vote to Go on Strike
Health Care: Action Would Affect UCSD Medical Center, Thornton Hospital
BY MARION WEBB
Senior Staff Writer
University of California health system nurses voted overwhelmingly to go on strike following the breakdown of contract negotiations over pay raises and better working conditions.
The California Nurses Association, which represents nearly 8,000 UC nurses, said in a May 9 conference call that it had an “overwhelming turnout” of nurses voting in favor of a strike. UC nurses are “fed up” and “angry” at not being listened to, CNA officials said.
The strike vote against the UC system, which encompasses seven hospitals and four student health centers, is a historical first.
In San Diego, the strike would affect 800 full-time and 400 temporary nurses working at the UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest and UCSD Thornton Hospital in La Jolla.
Geri Jenkins, a registered nurse at the UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest and chief local negotiator for the nurses union, said “after years of the university not paying attention to its nurses, and listening to how we feel, the nurses have had enough.”
The CNA said it has not set a date when it will give UC administrators the 10-day notice required by state law to allow the hospitals to make alternate arrangements for patient care, such as canceling elective surgeries, transferring patients to other facilities and filling staff needs to provide patient care.
Planned meetings May 13 and 14 between CNA officials and UC administrators will provide another opportunity for the two parties to come to an agreement and avert a strike.
“We hope the university will hear the loud and clear voices of the nurses, otherwise there will be a strike,” said Joe Lindsay, a contract negotiator from the union, during the conference call.
Charles Idelson, a CNA spokesman, however, did not want to commit to a strike.
“If we don’t have substantial progress on Monday and Tuesday, then a strike would be a virtual certainty,” he said.
Lindsay said contract negotiations between the two parties have been ongoing since Feb. 13 and broke down May 2.
The union has four major points of contention:
It wants the university to end mandatory overtime and on-call services; adopt minimum staffing levels for nurses as proposed by Gov. Gray Davis in January; provide guaranteed annual pay raises based on level of experience and not merit as currently practiced; and full contract rights for per-diem nurses.
Rose Ann DeMoro, the CNA’s executive director, said if these demands are not being met, a “systemwide” strike will follow.
She did not offer details on possible strike duration, number of participants, or logistics.
Idelson said the union has previously worked with county health directors to assure continued patient care during strikes.
Leslie Franz, a UC spokeswoman, said the university hopes for an agreement, adding, “We are committed to work to a satisfactory contract.”
The UC system has a contingency plan to provide ongoing “quality patient care and services” in case of a strike, she added.
Idelson said previous strikes by nurses from the Kaiser Permanente system in northern and central California sent a “strong message” to their administrators.
The six strikes involved Kaiser nurses from 47 hospitals and clinics and took place over an 18-month period in 1997 and 1998.
Separately, the CNA said last week it filed a charge with the Public Employee Relations Board charging UC administrators failed to negotiate in good faith and also to provide information needed for bargaining as well as other violations.
“Given the hard-headed position (of UC administrators) to date, we’re not optimistic,” Idelson said.
