All Dressed-up and Nowhere to Strike
Despite a call for help making picket signs and plans to hire temp nurses in anticipation of a one-day strike scheduled today, both sides in the conflict between the nurses union and management at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center have pulled back from the brink, at least for now...
Brent Hopkins reports both sides have agreed to a 30-day cooling off period brokered by Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who obviously doesn't represent Burbank, but got involved because of his union ties and his district in L.A. covers Providence Holy Cross, the hospital's sister facility in Mission Hills.
BURBANK - Late Monday, hours before nearly 1,500 members were set to walk off the job at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, the unions representing nurses, technicians and staff called off a planned strike.Seeking to prod hospital management into better job security and added staffing, SEIU-UHW West (formerly Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West) and SEIU Local 121 RN had called for a one-day walkout beginning at 6 a.m. today.
Hospital officials said they would use replacement workers on a three-day contract and threatened to keep strikers off the job on Wednesday and Thursday.
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The two parties hope to resume negotiations later this week.
A marketing/pr official at St. Joe's told me this morning ths deal is holding and everybody's at work.
Update 9 a.m. -- In fact, both sides are slated to return to the negotiating table Wednesday.