After striking for a full week, the union representing 5,000 hospital nurses reached a tentative contract agreement with Stanford Health Services late Friday that, if ratified this weekend, could see them return to work Tuesday.
Nurses at Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital started picketing Monday in front of the hospitals as they demanded higher wages and additional staffing to help them cope with a coronavirus pandemic that has forced many to work long, stressful hours.
After days of negotiations, the nurses union, Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement, announced a deal that would raise nurses’ salaries 7% this year, 5% in April 2023 and another 5% in April 2024, and boost their health benefits.
Stanford also guaranteed an additional week of pre-scheduled vacation for all nurses starting in 2024, as well as additional protections against workplace violence, including a new response team at the children’s hospital.
Workers did not picket at the hospitals Saturday in accordance with a Monday-to-Friday strike schedule.
If the agreement is ratified, nurses will be back to work as early as Tuesday, the union announced. Traveling nurses have been treating patients since the regular nurses went on strike.
“We stood strong behind our demands for fair contracts that give us the resources and support we need to take care of ourselves, our families and our patients,” Colleen Borges, the union president, said in a statement.
“We are proud to provide world-class patient care – and are glad the hospitals have finally listened to us,” Borges added.
In a statement, Stanford Health Care said it is “extremely pleased” that a three-year contract was reached and “we truly look forward to welcoming our colleagues back on Tuesday.”
Union leaders had cited nurses’ fatigue and burnout as among the reasons to strike, and became upset upon discovering that the hospitals would temporarily rescind the health benefits of nurses who participated.
“It feels like a slap in the face,” Packard bedside nurse Jessica Butler, who is pregnant and in need of health care, said Friday about losing health benefits. “They say they value us but this is showing that that’s not true.”
In a statement, Stanford Health Care said it was “standard national practice” to provide benefits only to employees who are actively working.
The strike drew the attention of lawmakers and a visit Friday from Sen. Alex Padilla.
Standing in solidarity today with @CRONAnurses who heroically put their lives on the line every day to serve their community. Even through the worst days of the pandemic they showed up for us. Nurses truly are real life super heroes. pic.twitter.com/cAzfso0hds
— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) April 30, 2022
To fill in for the striking nurses, Stanford Hospital hired traveling nurses through an employment agency offering $13,000 a week in salary, plus free food, housing and transportation.
The Stanford strike was the latest by Bay Area nurses who say they have worked unreasonably long hours, skipped holidays and dealt with the constant onslaught of death and suffering unleashed by the pandemic.
Many nurses have given up on the field, leaving hospitals short-staffed and struggling to meet legal nurse-to-patient ratios.
A couple of week ago, 8,000 nurses across Northern California staged a one-day strike at 18 Sutter Health facilities. Recent health care strikes also took place in Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, Montana and Alabama.
And late last year, close to 4,000 Kaiser workers walked out, demanding better compensation and higher staffing levels, forcing the health care provider’s facilities to temporarily stop some services.
Source: www.mercurynews.com