After an unsuccessful extended mediation session between the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA) and the Stanford Hospitals and Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, CRONA is preparing to call a nurses’ strike.
The nurses’ union’s recent contract discussions with the hospitals began in February, as CRONA sought increased wages, more flexible hours and a 12-hour weekly cap on on-call times. On April 13, 84 percent of the 3,303 nurses at Lucile Packard and Stanford Hospital voted to authorize a strike if no deal was reached.
Only two mediation sessions were originally planned for last Monday and Tuesday, but CRONA agreed to a third session on Thursday, which did not end until 3:30 a.m. on Friday morning.
However, with no agreement forthcoming from discussions, the union will move ahead with a strike. When it does, CRONA will give the hospitals 10 days’ notice so that arrangements can be made to continue caring for patients.
“From the beginning of this contract negotiation, CRONA has been committed to securing a comprehensive agreement that maintains the quality of patient care at Stanford and Lucile Packard Children’s hospitals,” said CRONA president Colleen Borges in a statement released Friday. “We need wages and working conditions that attract and retain the best nursing talent. And we need a contract that reflects the professional respect that CRONA nurses deserve.”
The Daily had yet not received comment from the hospitals at time of printing.
Although CRONA has disputed its nurses’ contracts multiple times in recent years, CRONA’s last issued nurse’s strike was over a decade ago, in 2000. That 51-day strike broke California records for its duration.
Contact Rebecca Aydin at raydin ‘at’ stanford.edu.