| Dear 121RN Member:Nurses at Riverside Community Hospital (RCH) need your support for their Staffing Strike beginning 6/26 to 7/6. Nurses at RCH, owned by Healthcare Corporation of America (HCA), met with HCA corporate executives and RCH management seeking to renegotiate the mediation agreement settled in 2019 related to staffing issues, but HCA had other plans.HCA/RCH rejected the proposals made by Nurses to keep them in ratio, to provide sufficient support staff to all the units, to keep dedicated Trauma and MICN Nurses in those roles without giving them unrelated direct patient assignments that pull them from their focus, to provide sufficient break and lunch relief for all nurses and other staffing-related proposals that were part of the original mediation agreement that was in effect for one year.Without the now expired agreement and a refusal to consider the staffing proposals submitted on May 29 and again on June 18, HCA/RCH has started to reverse staffing improvements that had been gained through the agreement. And, RCH management engaged in unilateral changes to the working conditions of our members without notification and without bargaining over the changes.During this pandemic, Nurses are expected to take care of more patients, even with an increased risk of COVID-19 infection due to insufficient Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), inadequate safety measures, and recycling of single-use PPE.As Health Professionals and Nurses, you all know what's at stake when Hospitals cut corners and protect profit over safety—patients suffer.So, they Strike! It starts with RCH, but you’re all dealing with the same issues. Unless you take a collective stand, this will continue at every hospital. Nurses need your support on the picket line for our 10-day strike starting Friday 6/26 at 8 a.m. Please join them if you’re able to on any of the scheduled dates.Thanks for all you do.In Unity,Rosanna Mendez Executive Director, SEIU Local 121RN SEIU Local 121RN 1040 Lincoln Ave. Pasadena, CA 91103 United States |