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8 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 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 CALIFORNIA O n sept. 22, California hospitals felt the Big One. Not your typi- cal earthquake, but 23,000 CNA/NNU registered nurses making history by mounting a one-day walkout at 34 Northern and Central California facilities run by Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente, and Children's Hospital of Oakland—the country's largest-ever RN strike. Sutter Health and Children's Hospital continued to lock out nurses for an addition- al four days, and one hospital another seven days, even though nurses were ready to return to work Friday morning, thereby preventing highly experienced nurses from being at the bedside while the hospitals continued to utilize replacement nurses. RNs on Sunday, Sept. 25 held a candlelight vigil for an oncology patient at Summit Hospital in Oakland who died during the lockout when her replacement nurse made a fatal medical error. About 5,000 RNs with Sutter Health went on strike to protest the hospital chain's all-out attack on their nursing practice and economic standards during this year's contract negotiations. Though the take- aways vary by facility, the Sacramento-based chain is demanding a total of more than 200 concessions by the nurses, with some proposals rolling back provisions that have been in place for decades. Among the most outrageous demands by Sutter are calls for eliminating paid sick leave, which would encourage nurses to come to work sick and unnecessarily put patients at risk of infec- tion, eroding nurses' and retirees' healthcare benefits, and restricting their ability to speak out for patients. At the same time, Sutter has cut unprofitable but needed patient services by threatening to close California Nurses Jolt Hospitals with Massive, Unprecedented Strike NEWS BRIEFS From top: Sutter nurses on strike at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center walk the picket lines; AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka fires up the crowd; RNs raise their candles in memory of a patient who died under the care of a strikebreaking nurse; Kaiser RNs express sympathy for their colleagues NewsBriefs_Sept 10/11/11 9:30 PM Page 8