Sutter Delta hospital workers go on strike Monday morning in Antioch.
It's not business as usual at Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch on Monday.
Some 350 health care workers have gone on strike over staffing shortages, according to reporting by KPIX.
Staff are worried for both their safety and patient safety and as the facility's management continues to ignore their concerns.
"We are striking because it is all about patient safety," said Tom Black, a striking certified nurse's assistant. "We are understaffed. We are overwhelmed. It’s just not safe. That’s the reason we are out here so early. We want to get the message out to make things right for us, for the community, for the patients."
The strike is anticipated to go for five days, according to union officials. Among those gathered outside the hospital Monday was Antioch's Mayor, Lamar Thorpe.
"All I care about is the fact that this hospital serves residents of Antioch and particularly the most vulnerable in our community," said Thorpe. "Any type of impasse that creates strikes, disagreements between management and workers, is concerning to me because this is an important lifeline in our community."
The strike was announced late last week, and Sutter health officials responded Monday morning that they were disappointed in the union for distracting from patient care at this critical time.
"The union has proved its disregard for our patients and communities by engaging in a strike while refusing to make a good faith effort to reach a deal," wrote officials in a statement.
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