National Nurses United

6 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0 NEWS BRIEFS CALIFORNIA " R ns outside, Something Wrong Inside" and "Nurses Essential for Patient Care," read some of the signs held by hundreds of Cali- fornia Nurses Association registered nurses on the strike line in front of Alameda County and San Joaquin County facilities. The nurses were striking simultaneously over the same five days in October, the first CNA strikes since the Covid-19 pandemic began. RNs were outside Alameda Hospital, San Leandro Hospital, and San Joaquin General Hospital to protest the fact that manage- ment had been bargaining in bad faith for nearly two years and to demand that county supervisors get involved and address nurses' concerns about patient safety, personal pro- tective equipment, and safe staffing. Alameda and San Leandro hospitals are part of Alameda Health System (AHS). The San Joaquin County nurses work for the hospital as well as the county clinics, public health services, and the jails. On the first day of the strike, the nurses at each facility began picketing on Oct. 7 at 7 a.m. and then held rallies a few hours later followed by a friends and family car caravan honk-a-thon in the afternoon. On the third day, nurses moved the strike line to county administration offices and on the fourth day they were back in front of the hospitals and held vigils for fallen nurses in the evening. "Our patients are some of the most mar- ginalized people in our communities and we have an obligation to stand up for them and to demand that the county provide the tools we need to keep ourselves safe, our patients safe, and our communities safe," said Mawata Kamara, an RN at San Leandro Hospital and a member of the bargaining team. "We went into this pandemic without a contract—that's how dedicated we are to our communities—but now we need to know that we are being taken care of." "This strike is about adequate staffing and safe patient care," said Lisa LaFave, an RN in perianesthesia care at San Leandro Hospital who noted that management wanted to assign one nurse to mixed patient care, Covid-19-positive and non-Covid patients. LaFave wants designated Covid wards. "We are patient advocates and will advocate wherever we have to—at the bed- side, on the street, in the boardroom, whatever it takes," said LaFave. "AHS, the board of supervisors, the board of trustees, start listening, it's way past time." San Joaquin General is also a safety net hospital and the only trauma facility in the county. Nurses there are deeply concerned about dangerous working conditions, par- ticularly short staffing and being forced to reuse PPE. The county applied for a waiver of nurse-to-patient ratios, falsely claiming they met the waiver criteria, and it was granted by the California Department of Public Health. The absence of a contract has had a big impact on recruitment and reten- tion of experienced nurses. "Since February, we've lost nearly 100 nurses due to unsafe staffing and dangerous working conditions, as well as not having a strong contract that the county is willing to honor or recognize," said Marisa Lozano, RN in the hospital's ID oncology clinic. The nurses at each facility were at an impasse in bargaining so they took the momentous step to strike. In response, AHS spent more than $9 million and San Joaquin County approved $4 million for strike breakers rather than investing in the community and the nurses. In a video in support of the striking nurses, NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, said, "Striking is not a first resort for nurses, it's a last resort. But we are not afraid to strike for safe patient care when our employers have left us with no other choice. It's way beyond time for your employers and your county board of super- visors to stand with you. We will never emerge from this pandemic if they don't." — Chuleenan Svetvilas Public-sector RNs strike for five days Nurses protest bad faith bargaining and failure to address safety concerns

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