Thousands of Stanford Nurses Stage ‘Last Resort’ Strike

PALO ALTO (CBS SF) — Approximately 5,000 nurses at Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford went on strike Monday morning, walking picket lines outside both hospitals.

The nurses say understaffing is leading to constant requests for overtime and insufficient support for their mental health.

They want more money and better healthcare in their next deal. The nurses’ labor contracts expired March 31.

The hospitals were still open Monday with replacement nurses working shifts, but some elective surgeries had to be cancelled.

There’s another bargaining session between the union and the hospitals for Tuesday.

CRONA said 93 percent of eligible nurses voted to authorize the strike.

“As one of the nation’s top healthcare systems, Stanford and Packard have an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and work with nurses to solve the burnout and exhaustion that is driving many of us to reconsider our jobs and our profession,” said Colleen Borges, President of CRONA and a pediatric oncology nurse at Packard Children’s Hospital.

“We’ve been disappointed by hospital administrators’ consistent refusal to acknowledge the reality of understaffing: constant requests for overtime, little time for rest with our families and insufficient support for our mental health. A strike has always been the last resort for CRONA nurses, but we are prepared to stand strong and make sacrifices today for the transformative changes that the nursing profession needs.”

CRONA said nurses gave their hospitals notice of their intention to strike on April 13, after Stanford management “failed to negotiate fairly over the union’s proposals for addressing staff shortages, creating sustainable nursing careers and supporting world-class patient care.”

Nurses’ labor contracts expired March 31.

Chief nurse executive and vice president of patient care services for Stanford Health Care Dale E. Beatty and Jesus Cepero, senior vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer for Stanford Children’s Health, said in a joint statement the hospitals will remain open with qualified replacement nurses.

“We respect our nurses’ legal right to take part in a work stoppage but are deeply disappointed that the union chose this path,” the statement said. “A union work stoppage is a serious event that is disruptive to our patients, families, and colleagues. The impact can be deep, long lasting, and costly. We have worked diligently to reach a mutually acceptable contract agreement and have made meaningful progress at the bargaining table so far.”

CRONA said it plans to picket hospitals and hold a news conference at 9 a.m. Monday at Stanford Hospital, Welch Road at Pasteur Drive, in Stanford.

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