Kaiser L.A. Nurses Hit Picket Lines

About 1,200 nurses employed by Kaiser Permanente’s Los Angeles Medical Center went on strike earlier this week for a period of seven days.

The nurses recently affiliated with California Nurses Association/National Nurses United and are using clinical conditions at the hospital as a bargaining tactic for its first contract with Kaiser.

“We are embarrassed by the lack of resources Kaiser is putting into this hospital,” said Aisha Ealey, a neonatal intensive care unit RN.  “If Kaiser is planning on using this medical center as its teaching hospital for their medical school, it is critical to improve patient care conditions especially for our region’s sickest babies and kids, end floating (the assignment of RNs to areas outside their expertise) and provide for a fair contract for nurses.”

The strike began on March 15 and is scheduled to conclude on March 22. Several rallies at the Kaiser hospital are scheduled during the work stoppage.