Nearly 90 percent of unionized nurses who cast ballots yesterday voted in favor of strike authorization against Stanford Hospital and Clinics (SHC) and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH). The Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA) urged its member nurses to approve strike authorization in response to an ongoing contract dispute with the two hospitals.

“Last December, the nurses rejected a tentative agreement,” CRONA President Lorie John wrote in a press release. “When we asked the hospitals to make what for them would be minor revisions, but which are important and objectionable to the nurses, they refused.”

“We hope that the hospitals will now listen to our concerns so that a strike will not have to be called,” Johnson said. “The ball is in their court.”

In order to obtain strike authorization, CRONA leaders needed at least two-thirds of their approximately 2,700 nurses to vote in favor of the move. Yesterday’s vote saw 77 percent of the membership vote “yes.”

— An Le Nguyen