Health care workers are organizing a mass strike at Sutter Health facilities throughout the Bay Area over workplace safety concerns and lack of resources, according to a press release issued by National Nurses United.
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Nearly 8,000 registered nurses and health care workers are participating at more than a dozen facilities, according to the release.
Sutter Health and the California Nurses Association have been negotiating a new contract for nearly a year, but have yet to come to a consensus on certain key issues – including safety and enough PPE for staff.
"Nurses overwhelmingly voted to go out on strike because we see no other option left for us and our patients," said registered nurse at California Pacific Medical Center, Amy Erb, in the release. "We have tried repeatedly to address the chronic and widespread problem of short staffing that causes delays in care and potentially puts patients at risk, but hospital administrators continue to ignore us. We have a moral and legal obligation to advocate for our patients. We advocate for them at the bedside, at the bargaining table, and if we have to, on the strike line."
The workers will be picketing from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The participating facilities can be found in the release.
In response to the walkout, Sutter Health released a statement on Monday, saying that they hope a resolution is still possible.
"By moving forward with today's costly and disruptive strike, union leadership has made it clear they are willing to put politics above patients and the nurses they represent – despite the intervention of federal mediators and our willingness to bargain in good faith while under threat of a strike," said the statement.
"Our attention is on providing safe, high-quality care to the patients and communities we're honored to serve. We are confident in our ability to manage this disruption. We are hopeful CNA shares our desire to reach an agreement and enable our nurses to turn their focus back to the patients the union has asked them to walk away from," the statement added.
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