Registered nurses at the San Francisco Department of Public Health voted last week to authorize their contract negotiation team to go on strike, passing the bill with a 99.5% vote. Votes were tallied Friday after nurses voted throughout the week at SF General Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital and various clinics.
The bargaining team is still negotiating with the city to address staffing shortages and working conditions, but the latest approval means that if it feels the city “continues to refuse to respond seriously and in good faith,” it will be able to move forward in June. After the contract expires in 30 days, it will be possible to ask the negotiating team to terminate the contract. “On nurses’ priorities to protect and improve patient care,” according to a press release from the union.
The union alleges that the San Francisco Department of Public Health used temporary part-time nurses who were paid daily to cover the same number of hours as 291 full-time nurses. The union says it has presented evidence of 16,000 missed breaks and more than 1,400 “allocation despite objections” documents outlining dangerous conditions.
“Since negotiations began in February, the city has ignored the workers on the front lines of the city's toughest public health challenges, spending countless hours developing solutions to address severe staffing shortages. ” said Jennifer Esten, SEIU 1021 Community Clinic RN Chapter President. “They call us 'healthcare heroes' and yet refuse to listen to our claims. This overwhelming vote to authorize a strike will disrupt patient care in San Francisco's public hospitals and clinics. The strike shows that we will not back down when it comes to ensuring, and always as a last resort, that SFDPH management listens to us when we advocate for our patients. If that's what it takes, we'll do it.”
Representatives from the San Francisco Department of Public Health could not be reached for comment on the vote or the union's claims.
