RIVERSIDE - Nurses at Riverside’s Community Hospital are walking off the job today and through the Thanksgiving break to raise attention to working conditions, after negotiations with the facility’s corporate ownership broke down.
According to SEIU Local 121 RN, who represents the nurses, about 500 workers chose to join the picket. The strike started at about 7 am on Wednesday morning.
Strikes are also taking place at the Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks and West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles.
Rosanna Mendez, the executive director of SEIU Local 121 RN, shared that the unionized nurses have been negotiating since May to decrease understaffing and create safer workplace conditions.
She says the striking nurses are fed up with the treatment they’ve received from HCA Healthcare, the owner of the hospitals.
“Many of our nurses go home in tears,” said Mendez. “And some suffer through depression because they’re not able to provide the care they want to provide and that they know the patients deserve.”
The union has shared that in the last three years, the California Department of Public Health has reported hundreds of staffing violations at the three medical facilities. A report they launched earlier this year also shows that HCA is understaffing their hospitals at 30% below the national average.
Christie Lee works in the surgical intensive care unit at the hospital. She says nurses are being assigned to too many patients. She criticized management at Riverside Community Hospital for understaffing nurses to “turn a profit” and for turning a blind eye to their concerns.
“I am part of the bargaining team,” Lee said. “I’ve sat there day in and day out for six months, begging and pleading for them to hear us on safety issues and out of ratio issues, and they continue to turn a blind eye to it.”
HCA's Far West Division Spokesperson Carmella Gutierrez said in an emailed statement that the company is disappointed by the union's decision to strike.
"It’s evident the labor union has not taken these sessions seriously and has intended to strike all along, despite our genuine attempts at finding common ground."
City News Service contributed to this story
