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On Tuesday, we met with HCA for a 6th bargaining session. In addition to proposing articles designed to improve working conditions and patient safety, we reiterated our right to a safe work environment. We displayed and shared 70 statements about working conditions you’ve submitted in recent weeks. They declined to read them, so we took turns reading some out loud. It was clear to us they’d rather turn a blind eye than work with us to solve serious problems.

We brought up the increase in workplace violence incidents and questioned management’s decision to decrease security after management failed to call a Code Gray when police shot an armed, agitated patient at HCA’s Los Robles Regional Medical Center.

(Trigger Warning: Video of the incident via the Simi Valley Police Department includes graphic images)

Management also rejected proposals on many priorities you shared with us.

Examples include:

• Rejecting our proposal on Floating – designed to ensure we can do our jobs safely and efficiently for our patients.
• Rejecting our proposal on ensuring repeated pay check errors are corrected quickly.
• Rejecting our proposal to eliminate double documentation requirements of missed breaks and meals.

This is a short list of priorities they rejected, in addition to stating they wanted to keep existing language in other articles we identified as important to change– including on fixes that would cost them nothing.

HCA also doubled-down on their delay tactics to deprive the Riverside Community Hospital Quality and Trauma RNs from their right to union representation, even though the NLRB – a federal agency – has ordered the hospital to recognize them and bargain over the terms of their employment. They are now begging the courts to overturn a decided matter, even though courts don’t often overturn NLRB decisions. It is a clear stall tactic, and it improperly bogs down the legal system, just so HCA can buy more time to keep denying a hard-working group of RNs their right to improve their wages and working conditions.

It’s time to turn up the heat. Stay tuned…

We need to make HCA Execs understand what life is like for Los Robles Nurses and Licensed Medical Professionals—a perspective they’ll never get from the C-suite. We need to tell the hard truths HCA doesn’t want to hear.