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M A R C H | A P R I L 2 0 1 6 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 7 and meal breaks are at the heart of the dispute. "Kaiser LAMC prides itself on being the tertiary flagship center for the Southern California region and has expanded services here in the past few years, but it is hard to provide quality care while we are constantly short staffed," said Joel Briones, a coronary care unit RN at LAMC. "Our patients deserve better. With billions in profits, the nurses are insisting Kaiser settle a contract that reflect our role as patient advocates for the region." On March 20, Sanders voiced support for the LAMC RNs with a letter to LAMC Execu- tive Director William Grice urging the hospi- tal "to bargain in good faith with the nurses for a fair contract that values their role in providing high-quality healthcare" and agree to a fair contract "as soon as possible." "We are enormously grateful for the support of Bernie Sanders for recognizing the value of nurses, and once again standing tall for workers in Los Angeles as he has stood for nurses and workers across the U.S.," said LAMC RN Gus Matta. LAMC is the hub for specialty services such as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implanta- tion, a procedure for high-risk patients, and is the regional high-risk center for young children with cancer. Nurses are calling on Kaiser to invest in this regional specialty center and settling a fair contract with strong patient care provisions similar to what Kaiser has previously agreed in the CNA contract for 18,000 nurses in California. Despite making more than $14.4 billion in profit over the past six years, Kaiser has frozen wages for nurses at the region's terti- ary center. Though Kaiser attempted to prevent the public from seeing striking nurses by park- ing large trucks in front of the hospital and by calling the police and fire departments to remove canopies the nurses had set up outside, the nurses held their ground and prevailed in maintaining their strike lines. In response to Kaiser's assertions to the media that the hospital did not suffer from staffing problems, Kaiser LAMC RNs in March taped together their more than 500 assignment despite objection (ADO) forms collected over the past year and encircled the facility with this visual proof of under staffing. "We are embarrassed by the lack of resources Kaiser is putting into this hospi- tal," said Aisha Ealey, a neonatal intensive care unit RN at LAMC. "If Kaiser is plan- ning on using this medical center as its teaching hospital for their medical school, it is critical to improve patient care conditions, especially for our region's sickest babies and kids; end floating (the assignment of RNs to areas outside their expertise); and provide for a fair contract for nurses." —Staff report