The California Nurses Association-National Nurses United (CNA-NNU) yesterday filed a federal complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Sutter Health violated labor laws while locking them out for four days after a 23,0000-nurse, one-day strike on Sept. 22, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
The nurses' union accuses the health system of retaliating against the nurses, according to a Wednesday press release from CNA-NNU.
"Sutter's lockout was not only unwarranted, unnecessary, and unconscionable, it was also unlawful," said CAN-NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro in the statement. "Rather than negotiate a fair agreement with their RNs," DeMoro said, "Sutter chose instead to retaliate with an illegal lockout, and then mislead the public with fraudulent claims to try to justify it. This lockout will not stand."
During the lockout, a patient at Sutter's Alta Bates Summit Medical Center died after a medication error by a replacement nurse, an event that has drawn criticism from all sides about who is to blame. The incident is still under investigation, according to the Chronicle.
"We find it ironic that a union that has called more than 100 strikes against California hospitals in the last three years is challenging the steps our hospitals must take to preserve continuity of quality care for our patients during these times," said Sutter spokesman Bill Gleeson, reports the Contra Costa Times.
Kaiser Permanente, whose nurses also participated, did not lock out nurses after the strike ended, according to the article.
The union says Sutter proposes 200 cutbacks to employee benefits and patient services.
Reports indicate that the highest paid nurses (20 of them) at Alta Bates Summit Medical Centers earned between $200,000 and $291,000 because of overtime, well above the $136,000 average pay there, according to another San Francisco Chronicle article. Five of those high earners received $100,000 each to be on call.
However, the highest earners at Sutter Health (20 of them) received more than $1 million, such as CEO Pat Fry who earned the most at $4 million, according to the article.
"At least Sutter executives showed up and earned their paychecks," Sutter spokesman Sam Singer said about the strike.
For more information:
- read the San Francisco Chronicle article about the complaint
- read the San Francisco Chronicle article about nurses' pay
- check out the Contra Costa Times article
- read the CNA-NNU press release
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