Alta Bates nurses to go on one-day strike tomorrow

September 21, 2011 2:19 pm by Lance Knobel

The Ashby campus of Alta Bates Summit Hospital, where nurses will be on strike tomorrow. Photo: Lance Knobel

Nurses at the two Alta Bates Summit hospital campuses in Berkeley will hold a one-day strike tomorrow to protest what they term “sweeping demands for concessions” on contract terms by Sutter Health, which owns Alta Bates Summit. Alta Bates Summit is bringing in contract nurses to cover for the strikers, and says patient care will not be affected.

“The strike is because of Sutter’s scorched-earth policy against patients, the community and nurses,” said Charles Idelson, spokesperson for the California Nurses Association (CNA), which has called the strike. “Nurses have been the main barrier to Sutter’s policies.”

Although the CNA has called a one-day strike, Sutter has organized a five-day contract with the companies providing replacement nurses. “If a nurse chooses to go out on Thursday,” said Alta Bates spokesperson Carolyn Kemp, “they will be welcome back on Tuesday.” There are a total of 1,800 nurses employed at the three campuses of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center: Ashby in the Elmwood, Herrick in Downtown Berkeley, and Summit in Oakland.

The CNA claims that Sutter Health’s demands in its negotiations with the nurses will cut health coverage for RNs who work fewer than 30 hours a week, eliminate paid sick leave for RNs, and cut pay for newly hired RNs by $20 an hour, as well as “end the ability of charge nurses… to effectively advocate for patients”. According to Kemp, the last claim is “simply not true”.

According to Sutter’s figures, the average full-time Sutter RN in the East Bay earns $136,000 annually, compared to the regional average of $103,000 for an RN. Kemp said nurses received a 22% increase in pay over the last three years. The CNA and Sutter have been bargaining for months over a new contract without success.

“The issue is that nurses are not willing to work collaboratively to help at this very tough economic time,” said Kemp. In response, Idelson points to the $3.7 billion surplus the not-for-profit Sutter has recorded in the last six years, and the million dollar-plus salaries for many of Sutter’s top executives.

“Sutter wants to take a hard line,” Idelson said. “They’ve spent too much time watching governors Scott Walker in Wisconsin and John Kasich in Ohio.” Both Republican governors have led visible anti-union drives in their states in the last year.

At the same time as the nurse’s strike against Sutter facilities, the CNA is also striking against Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California and Children’s Hospital in Oakland, in sympathy with a one-day strike by 4,000 members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers. According to Gay Westfall, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, for Kaiser, the CNA-sanctioned work stoppage “is inconsistent with the CNA contract that just went into effect on September 1st”.

Like Alta Bates Summit, Kaiser says that patient care will not be compromised during the strike. In contrast to Alta Bates Summit, Kaiser is expecting striking nurses and NUHW workers to return on Friday.

13 Comments

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  • John Holland

    I’m really sad for Sutter that economic times are so bad, and they only have a $3.7 billion surplus. It sounds like they are really hurting right now.

    I hope they stick it to the nurses good!

    [sarcasm]

  • http://caviarcommunism.us West Bezerkeley

    According to Gay Westfall, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, for
    Kaiser, the CNA-sanctioned work stoppage “is inconsistent with the CNA
    contract that just went into effect on September 1st”.

    I’m all for fair pay & benefits for a fair day’s work, but when people violate a contract, they should be held accountable. Kaiser nurses should show solidarity on their own time.

  • WAYNE THOMAS

    SOLIDARITY FOR ALL CALIFORNIA NURSES  NUMBNUTS

  • http://caviarcommunism.us West Bezerkeley

    This is the type of in-your-face insult & reaction to the facts that
    has created a nationwide sense of loathing towards unions in the United
    States.

    Keep it up, you’re providing a fantastic example of why nobody
    should support the CNA     & that unions have the attitude
    that contracts should only be upheld when there is a violation on the
    part of the company, but violations on the part of the union are OK.

    I don’t accept union belligerence & double standards and neither does most of America. If contracts are not legally binding, what’s the point of a contract at all?

  • Bruce Love

    The union (CNA) disputes that their sympathy strike violates the no-strike clause of their contract.

    Perhaps that’s because in 2002 they won a case at the ninth circuit court of appeals in which the court ruled that a general no-strike clause – like the one Kaiser quotes – did not prohibit sympathy strikes.   The decision upheld several earlier similar decisions.

    http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/283/1188/484480/

    So, there is no “double standard” there on the part of CNA. 

    The union and Kaiser’s regional director of labor relations exchanged some heated letters in mid-august — Kaiser asserting that the no strike clause prevented the upcoming sympathy strike, the union responding that Kaiser was unilaterally changing its interpretation of the contract and had earlier, repeatedly, acknowledged the sympathy strike rights of CNA.

    In short, CNA has a pretty good looking case that their sympathy strike is both legal and permitted by their contract.

    (I agree, though, that “numbnuts” was uncalled for.)

  • http://caviarcommunism.us West Bezerkeley

    Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing.

  • http://radar.oreilly.com/2007/09/local-recycle-reuse-hits-a-bur.html The Sharkey

    From the Daily Cal: “Alta Bates registered nurses have seen a 22 percent salary increase over the past three years, and that full-time nurses at the hospitals currently earn an average yearly salary of $136,000.”

    I’m all for chopping from the top, but it’s hard to feel a lot of sympathy for folks who have gotten a 22% raise in the middle of a nation-wide recession.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1312465344 Luci Riley

    Thanks for the good humor John. The State came in to Summit hospital today in Oakland. The State only comes in to ‘Spot Check’ if they have had serious complaints about patient care. We saw a group of 10 or so scab nurses smoking like a factory outside the ER this evening. If they care that little about their own health, what do you think is happening on the inside of that hospital. Be afraid…….be very very afraid. And go John Muir for the next four days.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1312465344 Luci Riley

    Sorry about the name calling my friend. No one deserves that
    sort of treatment. No one who is a hard working member of the middle-class or
    the unfortunate members of our society who have fallen out of the middle class,
    or even the working and non-working poor, who have shouldered the worst of
    these draconian state and federal budget cuts.

    As a registered nurse, working in the Bay Area, I would like to address the
    136,000 dollar  ‘median income.’ Most of the RNs I work with are
    humorously asking for an adjustment to their paychecks to rightfully reflect
    this outrageous claim from Sutter management. Per our latest Alta Bates Summit
    Medical Center CNA contract, a Staff Nurse II (six months on the job min to
    reach this status) with up to 8 years experience (burn out rate for most RNs is
    10 yrs) makes $58.37 per hour. Most of our full time RNs work 32 to 36 hours a
    week. That is four 8 hr, or three 12 hours shifts. Multiply that hourly wage by
    the weekly hours worked, then times 52 and you reach a yearly salary of $97,000
    per year for a 32 hour RN. That is the salary that the majority of our full
    time nurses are making. But here is the rub in Sutter’s 136 K falacy. A large
    percentage of our nurses do not work full time, even though they are in large
    part the sole bread winners for their families. The reason why? Dealing with
    grieving families who are in crisis over the illness of their loved ones on a
    daily basis takes a tremendous toll on ones soul, not to mention ones body.
    Imagine keeping a sharp mind and exercising keen observation skills while
    titrating numerous life-saving IV drip medications at 3 a.m. AND being the sole
    emotional support for a grieving family who is distraught and immobilized at
    your patient’s bedside. This is my life West.

    West, I feel that I deserve my middle-class income for giving heart and soul to
    my patients, as well as for completing a bachelors degree in biology and
    psychology before I completed my bachelors in nursing. Please do not be fooled
    by the corporate mantra that “We have all fallen on hard times.”
    Corporate America has been out of this recession for quite some time. It is
    time to release the low hanging fruit and start hiring again, nationwide. Why
    is this not happening? Because the recession has lowered morale to the extent
    that many unemployed people will be willing to accept wages that would be
    rolled back a decade or more, so that corporate profits will surge even
    further. CNA is a large and powerful union yes, large and powerful enough to
    shine a very bright light in the very dark places where greedy coroporate
    America hides its historically bountiful profits. Sutter’s billions are just
    one of those dark places. CNA has the power and the numbers to call Kaiser and
    Sutter on their vast reserves, and firmly place the head of this two-headed
    corporate snake on the guillotine of public opinion.

    Thank you first and foremost for your concern over this issue. In this cynical
    climate we live in, it is refreshing to meet honest inquiry with honest
    appraisal. But more importantly, thank you for your honest assessment
    concerning your disdain for unions in general. Union leader and general members
    need to meet misinformation with honesty, not further disdain. Take care and
    keep asking questions.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1312465344 Luci Riley

    Sorry about the name calling my friend. No one deserves that
    sort of treatment. No one who is a hard working member of the middle-class or
    the unfortunate members of our society who have fallen out of the middle class,
    or even the working and non-working poor, who have shouldered the worst of
    these draconian state and federal budget cuts.

    As a registered nurse, working in the Bay Area, I would like to address the
    136,000 dollar  ‘median income.’ Most of the RNs I work with are
    humorously asking for an adjustment to their paychecks to rightfully reflect
    this outrageous claim from Sutter management. Per our latest Alta Bates Summit
    Medical Center CNA contract, a Staff Nurse II (six months on the job min to
    reach this status) with up to 8 years experience (burn out rate for most RNs is
    10 yrs) makes $58.37 per hour. Most of our full time RNs work 32 to 36 hours a
    week. That is four 8 hr, or three 12 hours shifts. Multiply that hourly wage by
    the weekly hours worked, then times 52 and you reach a yearly salary of $97,000
    per year for a 32 hour RN. That is the salary that the majority of our full
    time nurses are making. But here is the rub in Sutter’s 136 K falacy. A large
    percentage of our nurses do not work full time, even though they are in large
    part the sole bread winners for their families. The reason why? Dealing with
    grieving families who are in crisis over the illness of their loved ones on a
    daily basis takes a tremendous toll on ones soul, not to mention ones body.
    Imagine keeping a sharp mind and exercising keen observation skills while
    titrating numerous life-saving IV drip medications at 3 a.m. AND being the sole
    emotional support for a grieving family who is distraught and immobilized at
    your patient’s bedside. This is my life West.

    West, I feel that I deserve my middle-class income for giving heart and soul to
    my patients, as well as for completing a bachelors degree in biology and
    psychology before I completed my bachelors in nursing. Please do not be fooled
    by the corporate mantra that “We have all fallen on hard times.”
    Corporate America has been out of this recession for quite some time. It is
    time to release the low hanging fruit and start hiring again, nationwide. Why
    is this not happening? Because the recession has lowered morale to the extent
    that many unemployed people will be willing to accept wages that would be
    rolled back a decade or more, so that corporate profits will surge even
    further. CNA is a large and powerful union yes, large and powerful enough to
    shine a very bright light in the very dark places where greedy coroporate
    America hides its historically bountiful profits. Sutter’s billions are just
    one of those dark places. CNA has the power and the numbers to call Kaiser and
    Sutter on their vast reserves, and firmly place the head of this two-headed
    corporate snake on the guillotine of public opinion.

    Thank you first and foremost for your concern over this issue. In this cynical
    climate we live in, it is refreshing to meet honest inquiry with honest
    appraisal. But more importantly, thank you for your honest assessment
    concerning your disdain for unions in general. Union leader and general members
    need to meet misinformation with honesty, not further disdain. Take care and
    keep asking questions.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1312465344 Luci Riley

    West B. Please see my comment below. It obviously was too long for this reply box. My apologies.

  • J G

    I too am a Registered Nurse and have worked at a Sutter Hospital in this area.  I have been an R.N. longer than most RNs have been alive, so have been around the block more than a few times.
    There is wrong doing on both sides of the issue.  CEOs of even nonprofit corps tend to be greedy – no surprise given this country’s money culture where money has more value than human beings, and this is not isolated to the health care industry as we all know; just listen to the news about how banks foreclose on families and disabled people with no mercy and the fraud involved in many cases.
    However, CNA could take the approach of bringing staff RNs and administration of hospitals together in a win-win situation to reach goals held in common instead of taking the adversarial approach.  They also use hoodlum/gangster type behaviors to intimidate those who are not under their spell.  This is personal knowledge and not hearsay.  CNA is as greedy for power and money as are the health care corporations they instigate their nurses to strike against.  They are only interested in winning irrespective of the impact on others.  I could say more from an insider viewpoint but hopefully you get the picture.  There has to be a better way where RNs behave with decorum (which is not the agenda of CNA and why I refused to join it because I couldn’t stomach their awful attitudes and behaviors) and at the same time,
    and where RNs are treated as people of value, which we are.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1312465344 Luci Riley

    JG, Thank you for your honest response. I am not a CNA rep. Just a dues paying member. But I am quite well aware of the fact that Sutter would never have offered the wages we are making without being pressured by CNA, which IS me and all my Sutter Rn colleges. I truly feel awful for you and many other RNs who have been soured by the innate political hardline nature of past contract negotiations. Strong arming has gone on from both sides. However, I would argue that to bring down a powerfully wealthy candidate like Meg Whitman, CNA must have political clout in the form of money and numbers. Had Whitman been elected, she would have made Scott Brown’s Union stripping tactics in Wisconsin look like childs play. She is just that powerful and connected. JG, have you ever worked in a right to work state. If you had, you would treasure a CNA contracts protection. Be well my friend. And please be safe with every move you make and opinion you verbalize at work without a CNA contract to protect you. In peace…….