MARIN COUNTY: Marin General Hires ‘Strikebreakers’ During Nurses Strike
In the face of a 24-hour nurses strike last week, Marin General Hospital, Marin County's largest acute care facility, contracted with U.S. Nursing Wednesday to bring in 120 replacement workers "for a minimum of five days," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Hospital officials said they would not recall the striking nurses until today. Labor representative Eric Hall of the California Nurses Association called the move "punitive." Noting that the hospital had been warned of the one-day strike 11 days in advance, CNA spokesperson Charles Idelson added, "We don't believe the hospital had to sign a five-day agreement. Furthermore, they didn't have to bring in U.S. Nursing. The reason we had a one-day strike was to minimize hospital disruption. We believed they could handle a one-day strike with nursing managers, without having to pay exorbitant sums to professional strikebreakers." Marin General nurse Leslie Crane said she believes the hospital's decision is "a scare tactic" and constitutes "a lockout intended to retaliate for the strike." Hospital officials, however, denied that the move was a lockout. Marin General nurses have been working without a contract since Dec. 31 (Curiel, 2/3).
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