KAISER PERMANENTE: NURSES FLEX MUSCLES IN ONE-DAY STRIKE

      Yesterday at 7:00 a.m., 26,000 Kaiser Permanente registered
 nurses, licensed vocational nurses, optometrists, respiratory
 therapists, X-ray technicians, social workers, clinical
 scientists, housekeepers, cooks, clerks and transportation
 employees went on a one-day strike at 16 Kaiser hospitals and 35
 clinics in Northern California, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER reports. 
 The strike arose over "a Kaiser proposal to freeze the salaries
 of 60% of all nurses for four years, followed by a one percent
 increase in each of the next two years."  The remaining nurses
 would have been "forced" to accept a salary cut of 2.5% each
 year.  As a result, 7,000 nurses walked off the job yesterday and
 were joined by the other workers in a sympathy strike
 (Ginsburg/Coile, 4/16). 
      THE HEART OF THE MATTER:  According to the SAN FRANCISCO
 CHRONICLE, officials with the California Nurses Association (CNA)
 "refused to bargain over the cuts, and instead proposed
 bargaining over broader issues involving the quality of patient
 care at Kaiser."  Kaiser officials responded that CNA's
 complaints were a "smoke screen" to obscure the real interests of
 the nurses.  CNA President Rose Ann DeMoro said the strike
 "builds consciousness, builds people's support, and exposes
 Kaiser's betrayal of its patients."  Kaiser spokesperson Tom
 Debley said, however, "This strike was about disrupting patient
 care as part of their (CNA's) public relations war.  Our goal was
 to make sure that people who needed care got it."  Kaiser
 officials declined to say how much the strike cost them, however,
 only 20% of its hospital beds were occupied yesterday, down from
 an average of about 50% (DeBare, 4/17).  Debley said Kaiser
 expects to be "back in full operation by Friday" (EXAMINER,
 4/16).