Nurses threaten strike against Tri-City
Nurses at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside are threatening to strike over what they describe as policies that have caused the hospital to hemorrhage more than 300 experienced nurses over the last two years.

Nurses at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside are threatening to strike over what they describe as policies that have caused the hospital to hemorrhage more than 300 experienced nurses over the last two years.

The California Nurses Association, a union which represents about 700 registered nurses at the facility, held a rally in front of the hospital Thursday to speak out against hiring practices described as favoring temporary nurses and new nursing school graduates over those who live in the area and who have longer track records of patient care.

“It’s like a revolving door. Some people come, stay for a little bit, and then they leave. The Tri-City board has passed an enormous budget for travel and registry nurses when so many veteran nurses have left,” said Sara Gurling, the union’s chief negotiator for the Tri-City bargaining group.

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Tri-City did not respond to a request for comment on the union’s statements Thursday.

Though some nurses connected with the rally made statements that made it seem as if a strike is imminent, that’s not the case. Federal law requires health care workers to give 10 days of notice before walking off their jobs so that hospitals have ample opportunity to bring in temporary replacements and make sure that hospitalized patients are not harmed by a work stoppage.

Gurling said that the union’s membership has not yet voted to strike, and no 10-day strike notice has been provided to hospital management or to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

San Diego County has been no stranger to strike talk among health care workers. On Nov. 28, 2016, Sharp HealthCare’s 4,800 nurses nearly hit the picket line decrying what they said were below-market wages but called the whole thing off with just hours to go when a satisfactory pay deal materialized.

Earlier that month, Teamsters Local 2010, which represented 218 support employees such as electricians, carpenters and painters at UC San Diego Health, staged a strike over wage disagreements.

Gurling declined to say how much of a pay increase Tri-City nurses are seeking during ongoing contract negotiations.

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paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com

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