12 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 A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 2
NEWS BRIEFS
CALIFORNIA
M
ore than 8,000 registered
nurses and health care workers
at 15 facilities across Northern
California held a one-day strike
on April 18 to protest Sutter Health's refusal
to address their proposals about safe staffing
and health and safety protections.
The members of the California Nurses
Association and the Caregivers Healthcare
Employees Union at Sutter have been in nego-
tiations since June 2021 for a new contract,
with little to no movement on key issues. They
urge management to invest in nursing staff
and agree to a contract that provides safe
staffing that allows nurses to provide safe and
therapeutic care and pandemic readiness pro-
tections that require the hospitals to invest in
personal protective equipment stockpiles and
comply with California's PPE stockpile law.
"The Sutter nurses voted for this strike,"
said Renee Waters, a trauma neuro intensive
care RN with 26 years of experience. "We are
striking because Sutter is not transparent
about the stockpile of PPE supplies and con-
tact tracing. They resist having nurses
directly involved in planning and implemen-
tation of policies that affect all of us during a
pandemic. We must address these issues and
more. A fair contract is needed to retain
experienced nurses, have sufficient staffing
and training, and ensure we have the
resources we need to provide safe and effec-
tive care for our patients. Nurses are fighting
back against Sutter putting profits before
patients and health care workers."
Sutter RNs and health care
workers hold one-day strike
More than 8,000 RNs and health care workers demand safe staffing
