Sutter nurses plan 10-day strike

Labor troubles are continuing within the Sutter Health system hospitals, where Bay Area nurses are now planning a 10-day strike. Nurses at Atla Bates Summit Medical Center campuses in Berkeley and Oakland, Calif., as well as at San Leandro Hospital, voted this week to prepare for a strike. The union, the California Nurses Association, previously got permission from Nurses at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo. Nurses at Sutter are striking for the third time in less than a year, but this is the longest strike they've yet attempted.

Union leaders say that the key issue sparking the strike is Sutter's unwillingness to schedule RNs to care for patients when nurses are on meal, rest or bathroom breaks. Sutter, for its part, is saying that the group is striking because its contracts with CNA don't offer the same systemwide organizing terms the group has with other hospital systems.

To learn more about the planned strike:
- read this Sacramento Business Journal piece [1]

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