University nurses prepare for statewide strike

Only three days remain until University of California nurses are
scheduled to strike statewide, but no negotiations with the UC have
taken place since the union passed a strike vote July 7.

With no resolution in sight, both the California Nurses
Association, which represents all 9,000 nurses who work in UC
medical and health centers, and the UC have been preparing for the
Thursday strike.

The nurses’ contract expired July 8 after having been
extended several times since its original expiration date in April.
CNA has been bargaining mainly for significant wage increases,
secure pension plans and static nurse-to-patient ratios. Between
June 28 and July 7, union nurses voted to reject the UC’s
proposed contract.

At UCLA, CNA representatives have been making rounds through the
medical center, meeting with nurses to describe the issues at
stake, outline the strike procedure and field questions. If there
is a strike, it will be the first in the union’s 21-year
relationship with the university.

Michael Kenny, a member of the CNA statewide bargaining team and
a nurse at the UCLA Medical Center’s Neuropsychiatric
Institute, has been making such rounds, encouraging nurses to
strike and reassuring them that their patients and their jobs will
not be at risk.

“UCLA won’t listen until we stand up and do our
thing,” Kenny said.

Kenny explained that although the university will be hiring
temporary nurses for the day of the strike, union nurses will be
encouraged to cross the picket line to provide care in the case of
emergencies, such as immediately available heart transplants or
large-scale disasters.

University representatives could not be immediately reached for
comment, but a July 8 press release says that “anticipating
the union’s strike announcement, the university contracted
for replacement nurses for UC medical centers.”

UC spokesman Noel Van Nyhuis has said the UC will do its best to
“ensure patient safety and help mitigate any effects of the
strike in terms of effects of daily operations of the
hospital.”

The UCLA Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center will
also be open as usual, though no additional nurses have been
contracted to work on the day of the strike, said Susan Quillan,
the center’s director of nursing.

“We’ll just use all of our supervisors and physician
staff to take care of the students,” said Quillan, adding
that if students are uncomfortable with crossing a picket line,
they should schedule appointments for a different day.

According to a July 8 UC press release, “UC’s most
recent offer includes significant market-based salary increases for
nurses and guarantees to health and retirement benefits.”

The press release also says a strike would be illegal, as
negotiations are still ongoing, and “the university must now
consider filing an unfair labor charge against the
union.”

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