“This is the first strike that seems solely about the basic protections for frontline workers.”
—Thousand Oaks Mayor Claudia Bill-de la Peña
On December 10, we announced that Nurses and Licensed Medical Professionals at three Hospital Corporation of America facilities voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike. The vote shows that Nurses and healthcare professionals at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, Riverside Community Hospital, and Los Robles Regional Medical Center are united and ready to strike, if their Bargaining Team deems it necessary. Union members plead for pandemic safety measures and an end to the manufactured staffing crisis in the hospitals. Here is a round-up of media coverage of the strike vote.
- VC Star—Los Robles nurses vote to authorize strike; 10-day notice still required
- Thousand Oaks Acorn—Nurses’ union, HCA at odds as COVID takes turn for worse (Also appeared in the Simi Valley Acorn)
- KTLA—Nurses at 3 SoCal hospitals allege understaffing, aggressive rationing of PPE
- LA Daily News/Inland Daily Bulletin—Nurses, healthcare workers authorize possible strike at 3 area hospitals (also appeared in Inland Daily Bulletin)
- Becker’s Hospital Review—California workers at 3 HCA hospitals OK potential strike
- Fox 11 Los Angeles—Local nurses threaten to strike
- NBC Palm Springs—County Supervisor pleads with nurses to hold off on strike
- Desert Sun—Riverside County, Coachella Valley leaders worry about hospital staffing shortages after nurses vote to strike
- KESQ Palm Springs—Local administrators ‘gravely concerned’ over possible nurse strike at Riverside hospital
On December 14, we delivered a strike notice.
After this show of unity and resolve, HCA agreed to immediate, previously unscheduled bargaining sessions Friday, Saturday and Sunday (December 11–13), bargaining until nearly midnight and, for the first time, bargaining on a weekend.
However, the hospital corporation refused to offer anything more than weak, vague, unenforceable lip service to Union members desperate insistence on meaningful improvement on safe staffing levels and pandemic safety measures.
As a result, in the just-past-midnight hours of Monday, December 14, the Union members’ Bargaining Team knew they couldn’t wait any longer to deliver a 10-day strike notice to the employer—lives are at stake. The notice served to let hospital management know they had 10 days to prepare for our walkout. And all the while encouraging HCA to come back to the bargaining table to work on an agreement that would stop the strike.
- Thousand Oaks Acorn—In response to strike threat, Los Robles talks limiting ER admissions
“This is the first strike that seems solely about the basic protections for frontline workers,” said Thousand Oaks Mayor Claudia Bill-de la Peña. - Los Angeles Daily News—Medical workers strike in Thousand Oaks, Riverside and West Hills over understaffing, lack of COVID protections
- NBC News—A ‘moral and ethical struggle’: California nurses threaten Christmas Eve strike over work conditions (This story reporting listed in Politico’s “California Playbook“)
- ABC7—Barstow Community Hospital faces dire situation, several nurses sick with COVID-19
- Desert Sun—Riverside Community Hospital nurses deliver strike notice but are ‘close to a contract’
- VC Star—Los Robles nurses give notice of 10-day strike beginning Dec. 24
- Pacific Coast Business Times—Nurses set to strike at Los Robles hospital in Thousand Oaks
- Becker’s Hospital Review—California workers at 3 HCA hospitals call strike
- Desert Sun—Nurses could strike as soon as Christmas Eve (scroll down for story)
- Healthcare Dive—Nurses at 3 California HCA hospitals set for holiday strike as ICU capacity drops
- NBC 4 LA—Nurses Plan 10-Day Walkout at Riverside Hospital on Christmas Eve
- Fox11 LA—Nurses plan to strike at 3 SoCal hospitals amid COVID-19 staffing shortages
- Lake Elsinore Patch—Nurses’ Strike At Riverside Community Hospital: Talks Continue
- The Hill—Nearly 2,500 California nurses threaten Christmas Eve strike over work conditions
- Becker’s Hospital Review—Medical staff urges California nurses not to strike
- Scrubsmag—Doctors Urge Nurses in Southern California Not to Go on Strike as Infections Rise
- NBC Palm Springs—Supervisors Ask Nurses to Drop Plans for Walkout at Riverside Hospital
- ABC 7—Doctors at Riverside hospital urge nurses not to strike as county’s ICUs reach 100% capacity
- Desert Sun—Both sides agree: No progress in negotiations to avert Riverside
- MyNewsLA—Nurses Strike Amid COVID-19 Nightmare? Could Happen
- NBC Palm Springs—Federal mediators at the table with nurses union and hospital corporation
- KCRW—‘I just held his hand and we cried together.’ Nurse on comforting dying COVID patients
- VC Star—Here’s what could happen if Los Robles’ nurses strike on Christmas Eve
- KESQ—COVID hospitalizations taking a toll on healthcare workers
- Scrubsmag—SoCal nurses plan to strike at Christmas
Shocked Fox 11 anchor: “You would hope that nine months into this we would have PPE for our nurses!”
On December 19, we reached a tentative agreement with HCA, averting a strike.
After marathon negotiation sessions, our bargaining team reached a tentative agreement with management. The agreed-upon contract language includes historic pandemic safety guarantees, improved staffing levels, better access to PPE, more testing and better quarantine policies.
- VC Star—Los Robles nurses call off Christmas Eve strike; union and hospital negotiators reach deal
- MSNBC—We wanted to see ‘patients coming first’: critical care nurse shares story
- ABC 7—Nurses strike averted at 3 SoCal hospitals after contract deal reached
- Los Angeles Daily News—Tentative labor agreement averts strike at three Southern California hospitals (also in the Riverside Press Enterprise)
- Fox 11—Nurses at three SoCal hospitals reach agreement on COVID-19-related pact, averting strike
- Healthcare Dive—HCA, nurses avert holiday strike with last-minute contract deal
- Pacific Coast Business Times—Los Robles nurses call off Christmas Eve strike
- Becker’s Hospital Review—California hospitals reach tentative agreement with RNs, avert strikes
- NBC Palm Springs—Southern California nurses’ strike canceled, agreement reached
- Palm Springs Desert Sun—Nurses strike averted at three Southern California hospitals
- NBC Palm Springs—“Win, win for all.” Nurses’ strike averted
- Thousand Oaks Acorn—Deal done at hospital
- Modern Healthcare—Union actions, outcry reveal tension during pandemic