National Nurses United

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 J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 5 CALIFORNIA N urses at West Anaheim Medical Center (WAMC) in Anaheim, Calif. held a one-day strike on Aug. 12 to protest management's refusal to address their repeated concerns about nurse turnover, which is impacting the quality of patient care. "Our emergency department is often com- pletely full with a large lobby of patients waiting to be seen," said Liz Rivera, RN in the telemetry unit. "Having a strong, experienced, well-trained workforce in all units will make a huge difference in getting our patients timely and critical care throughout the hospital." WAMC RNs, represented by California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), urged management to invest in nursing staff and agree to a contract that provides conditions for safe patient care, measures to attract and retain nursing staff, and strict adherence to the legal require- ments for nurse-to-patient ratios. "Because of the nurse turnover that man- agement has refused to address, nurses are given assignments that can put our licenses in jeopardy," said Raymond Tejada, RN in the direct observation unit (DOU). "For example, nurses are assigned to units where we do not have the appropriate level of experience. That means ICU patients often don't get experi- enced ICU nurses, and DOU patients do not get experienced DOU nurses." "Nurses' ability to focus on our most criti- cally ill patients is severely restricted by the hospital's perpetual cycle of new graduate hires, whom we prepare to take full patient assignments but who leave soon after they're fully trained," said Heather Foy, RN in the ICU unit. "In my 12 years at WAMC, nurse reten- tion has not been this dire. We are truly exhausted and need real solutions." In addition to burdening experienced RNs with training duties on top of their regular assignment of patients, management over- loads RNs with supervisorial responsibility over non-RN nurse staff. These conditions create an unsafe work environment that could jeopardize safe patient care and have led experienced nurses to leave the hospital due to stress and moral injury. WAMC nurses have been in negotiations since February 2025 for a new contract with little to no movement on key issues. After months of negotiations and three days with a federal mediator, management has declared an impasse in negotiations. CNA, which represents more than 360 nurses at WAMC, disagreed with management's posi- tion and asked the employer to continue bargaining in good faith. —Michelle Morris LOUISIANA N urses at University Medical Cen- ter New Orleans (UMCNO) in New Orleans, La., held their fourth strike in July. The RNs, represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee/ National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), walked off the job for two days to protest LCMC Health's retaliation against nurses for their union activity and patient advocacy. Nurses were outraged that LCMC man- agement has engaged in a troubling pattern of going after experienced nurses advocating for their patients and coworkers, a pattern that includes the termination of Mike Robertshaw, RN, and recent disciplinary action against Wanda Williams, RN. Nurses say that management is clearly looking for reasons to discipline outspoken patient advocates who support their union and fight to improve working conditions. "LCMC wants to single out nurses, but we stood together on the strike line saying this isn't okay," said Williams, a nurse of 37 years who works in the observation unit at UMCNO. "Instead of working with us to make UMCNO a better hospital for everyone, man- agement is trying to scare us and punish us for supporting our union and our patients. We're concerned that they will continue to escalate against other nurses they deem undesirable." UMCNO nurses have been in negotia- tions since March 2024 for a new contract following their vote to join NNOC/NNU in December 2023. NNOC/NNU represents more than 600 nurses at UMCNO. "We won't be bullied out of fighting for our patients and our coworkers," said Robertshaw, RN in the burn intensive care unit at UMCNO. "LCMC is clearly looking for rea- sons to discipline pro-union nurses instead of working with us. We started our union to make UMC a better place to get care and a better place to work, and it's disappointing that LCMC will make excuses to punish us when it's clear their real goal is silencing nurses. This all demonstrates why we need to get the contract done." —Lucy Diavolo New Orleans nurses strike again NEWS BRIEFS Anaheim nurses strike for safe staffing

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