Nurses at Several Bay Area Hospitals Authorize One-Day Strike on July 17

Registered nurses at several Bay Area hospitals this week authorized a one-day strike on July 17 "if contract negotiations break down," the Oakland Tribune reports. Several contracts expired June 30, and others will expire today, according to the California Nurses Association, which represents the nurses. Nurses at Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley and Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, which has hospitals in Berkeley and Oakland, this week voted to authorize the strike (Bohan/Fischer, Oakland Tribune, 7/4). St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco also approved the strike. Nurses at Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame and Mills Health Center in San Mateo also may authorize the strike, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 7/4). The CNA, which announced the results of the votes on Wednesday, said that "every nurse" at Sutter Solano, 92% of nurses at Eden and 95% of nurses at the Alta Bates-Summit hospitals supported the strike (Oakland Tribune, 7/4). About 94% of nurses at St. Luke's voted to approve the strike, the CNA said (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/4). According to the CNA, the strike will take place "only if hospital representatives and negotiators ... can't reach an agreement in several key areas," which include pensions, retiree health benefits, nurse-to-patient ratios and salaries. Chuck Idleson, a CNA spokesperson, said, "A strike is always our last resort, and it will be our preference not to strike" (Oakland Tribune, 7/4).