(HorizonPost.com) – The 1,600 nurses from San Diego’s Rady Children’s Hospital took to the picket line on Monday after the union representing them turned down the hospital’s latest offer to increase pay by 25 percent over the next three years.
This is the first time the nurses from UNOCH Teamsters Local 1699 have ever gone on strike, according to the union’s executive director.
In a last-ditch attempt to avoid a strike, both sides met on Sunday hoping to reach a deal. However, during a late-night vote that same day, the union voted down the hospital’s latest offer.
The union said in a statement that while the past two weeks of negotiations had been difficult, the nurses believed that showing unity in a strike would “have a big impact.”
The strike officially began Monday morning when the night shift walked out of Rady Children’s Hospital.
One striking nurse told ABC-10 in San Diego that in addition to the 30 percent raise over the next three years that the union has asked for, the nurses also needed better health benefits.
She said San Diego County’s medical benefits package was among the worst of the state’s healthcare workers. She said in the past three years, premiums had increased by 34 percent with co-pays “getting higher” as well.
According to Rady Children’s Hospital, the offer rejected by the union on Sunday night also included a market-adjusted base pay.
Rady President and CEO Dr. Patrick Frias told ABC-10 that the hospital analyzed competitive market data along with surveys from the California Hospital Association to come up with the offer it presented to the nurses’ union on Sunday.
Dr. Frias said the hospital was aware that there would be “a little bit of catch-up” going into a new contract which was why the offer front-loaded the first year with a higher pay increase. He said the first-year adjustment alone would have made the nurses at Rady some of the higher-paid in San Diego County.
The hospital had 600 replacement staff on standby in anticipation of Monday’s strike which was scheduled to last through 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 23.
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