Barring a last-minute resolution of a labor dispute between the state’s nurses union and Catholic Healthcare West, Marian Medical Center nurses could walk out on Oct. 30, joining ranks for the union’s one-day strike.
Talks between the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee and CHW on a new four-year contract are hinging on nurses’ demands that hospitals do more to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus among employees and patients.
In a statement posted on its website, the union is asking CHW and two other Catholic hospital chains in the state to provide its nurses with more facemasks and other equipment.
“In particular, the RNs say, many hospitals continue to do a poor job at isolating patients with H1N1 symptoms and other steps to limit contagion, or provide sufficient fit-tested N95 respirators and other protective gear for healthcare workers and patients,” the statement reads.
According to the union, more than 3,000 people have been hospitalized for H1N1 in California, and more than 200 have died, including a nurse infected on the job.
The California Nurses Association imposed a media blackout until an agreement could be reached, though CNA spokeswoman Liz Jacobs did say negotiations for a new contract were ongoing. As of press time, no agreement had been reached.
“They are back in negotiations, so that’s a good thing,” Jacobs said. “But you never know.”
If it materializes, the strike is scheduled to last from 7 a.m. on Oct. 30 to 7 a.m. the following morning.
The CNA issued a 10-day strike warning on Oct. 20. In response, California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released half of the state’s 51 million N95 masks it had stockpiled on Oct 22.
In a press release, CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro called the move “long overdue.”
“Our public officials should not need to wait until exasperated nurses are prepared to strike, and hospitals, many of which have stalled on providing the masks, have no more excuses for guaranteeing they are fully available to everyone,” DeMoro said in the statement.
CHW Central Coast Hospitals spokeswoman Megan Maloney said CHW is “quite perplexed” by the demands for better swine flu protection and that the hospitals already follow the guidelines for disease protection set by the federal Centers for Disease Control.
She called the potential strike “unfortunate” and stressed medical care wouldn’t be compromised or adversely affected by the walkout.
“We’ll bring in replacement workers for that day,” Maloney said. “They’re highly trained, very skilled nursing staff that come in to replace the workers who would like to engage in the strike.”
According to the union, about 16,000 nurses throughout California, Arizona, and Nevada plan to participate in the strike. While about 360 of Marian’s nurses belong to the CNA, Maloney said there’s no way to know how many of them will walk out.
“Some of our union nurses have indicated that they plan to come to work that day,” she said.
CHW and the California Nurses Association have been at the bargaining table since March.
According to CHW, the two sides have reached tentative agreements on several key issues, including staffing levels, patient care, and seniority. The sides are still not seeing eye-to-eye on wages, health-care plans for Bay Area hospitals, and contract language regarding infectious disease protection.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation because we’ve made some progress and are close to resolving the issue,” Maloney said. “We’re really hopeful that the issues will be resolved because we want to have business as usual.”
In addition to improved protection against H1N1, the union wants hospitals to end the practice of “floating” nurses to areas outside their expertise. The CNA also wants hospitals to end efforts to reduce health-care benefits.
Maloney said CHW isn’t proposing any changes to their employees’ benefits, which she called “extremely competitive.”
CHW has proposed a wage increase of 22 percent, according to a press release sent out by the company. So far, Maloney said, the CNA hasn’t responded to the proposal. According to CHW, its full-time RNs earn more than $100,000 a year in California on average.
“We have expressed to the CNA that we are open to sitting down at the bargaining table,” Maloney said. “We hope they will engage in those talks with us so it can get resolved.”
If a strike does occur, it would also affect CHW’s other area hospitals: Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo. m
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas can be contacted at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2009.