Bay Area Hospital Strike Postponed

A three-day strike scheduled to begin today by more than 2,000 health care workers at nine Sutter Health-owned hospitals in the Bay area has been postponed because the Sutter management has agreed to resume negotiations on staffing levels, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Members of the Service Employees International Union Local 250, including vocational nurses, radiology technicians, aides and clerks, were set to begin a walk-out at 6 a.m. today. However, Sal Rosselli, president of SEIU Local 250, said that the strike was put on hold because Sutter agreed to include health care workers on committees that would establish staffing levels. Rosselli also said that Sutter has proposed that staffing level disputes be handled by a "neutral health care expert." Negotiations are scheduled to resume today (Heredia, San Francisco Chronicle, 4/2). However, Rosselli said that if negotiators fail to develop more finalized plans, the union will file a 10-day notice for another strike (AP/Sacramento Bee, 4/2).