This article was updated on 30 August 2022 to include the announcement of the RCN's strike ballot in Northern Ireland. Dive Brief: Unionized nurses at Stanford hospitals in California voted in favor of authorizing a strike Thursday, meaning more than 4,500 nurses could walk off the job in a bid for better staffing . New contracts will include workplace violence prevention measures, pay raises and the addition of more than 2,000 new registered nurse and nurse practitioner roles, according to a union release. However, on Decmeber 2, both sides reached an agreement on a new contract following the nearly year-long labor dispute. It was also updated on 23 September 2022 to reflect the RCN's date changes for its ballots following the death of the Queen. However, union members voted in favor of striking if necessary. They have been in negotiations since June 2021. Industrial action can take many forms and is always a last resort for nursing staff. A five-week strike this fall at another Buffalo hospital chain netted a major win on staffing ratios. Nurses gave notice on June 13 that they planned to strike for one day on June 23. Theyre taking the opportunity to broker deals improving wages and staffing, just as hospitals continue grappling with recruitment and retention issues driven by burnout and persistent, heightened labor costs in recent quarters. Nurses wanted better staffing policies and higher wages to keep up with inflation and to help retain and recruit more staff. New contracts include measures ensuring staffing is based on acuity, and nurses in units with high-acuity patients which have been difficult to staff will receive additional pay. Sept. 2that they intend to strike Sept. 13 through Sept. 16, according to a union release. 300 Registered Nurses and other healthcare workers at Howard University in Washington, D.C. organized a one-day strike on April 11, 2022. Some 93% of nurses represented by the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement voted in favor of the work stoppage, though the union did not set a date, according to a union release. 5,000 nurses went on strike at Stanford Health Care and the Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital in Palo Alto, CA in April of 2022. Linking and Reprinting Policy. Better staffing is key, along with higher wages and other benefits to help attract and retain employees amid ongoing shortages. Together these contracts cover 1.3 million workersand there are hundreds of thousands more covered under the hundreds of smaller contracts that are also expiring. Into 2022, many healthcare unions are still inching toward using strikes, while new healthcare unions are forming in several states. Nurses had been working under their old contract which expired at the end of 2021. RNs received pay increases from 12% to 31% and Cook County Health agreed to add 300 nurses. The union said that an initial consultation had found more than 80% of members backed industrial action over the pay offer. On June 2, they notified the county they intended to strike from June 13 to June 15. Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland interim director told Nursing Times that its members had sent a clear message to Scottish government. Nurses at two other hospitals in the region, St. Lukes Lake View Hospital and Essentias Moose Lake Hospital. Tony Evers in the days leading up to the planned strike and agreed to instead pursue an analysis from the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission to determine whether the system has to recognize their union, effectively averting the strike, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This could be an early test for the incoming Teamsters United administration, which has vowed to run more aggressive contract campaigns. Their concerns included recruitment, retention, and adequate economic investments in staff. The two sides reached a tentative agreement June 5 and the strike was averted. While RNs are desperately needed, nurses with advanced education and skills are even more valuable to the healthcare system. Healthcare Strikes - Replacement Nurses, Technicians, Staff Starting May 3rd, 2023 airline travelers will be required to be Real ID compliant. Let Healthcare Dive's free newsletter keep you informed, straight from your inbox. The contract for 5,700 Steelworkers at Goodyear Tire plants in Danville, Virginia; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Topeka, Kansas, expires July 29. Carhaulers voted down two tentative agreements in their last go-round before defeating pay cuts and an outsourcing threat. We want a fair deal for staff and we know that very high inflation-driven settlements would have a worse impact on pay packets in the long run than proportionate and balanced increases now. On the first day of the walkout, those at Montefiore continued bargaining with the hospital to try and reach a tentative agreement while negotiations did not take place at Mount Sinai, according to the union. In September the number was 53.5%. Those workers began their strike Aug. 15, with no set end date. We are absolutely clear; this is about the safety of patients. The issues that nurses are most concerned about vary in different parts of the country. The union plans to go on strike starting April 25, 2022. Over 2,000 nurses and other healthcare workers at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia voted in favor of authorizing a strike Oct. 13 after failing to reach a deal on new contracts. While nurses seek solutions to short staffing and retention, hospital executives have insisted on focusing on wages. Nurses at Stanford and Lucile. The nurses contract expired nearly a year ago, and in new agreements they want better staffing and more manageable workloads, according to the release. Copyright © 2023 Becker's Healthcare. Seton has been recovering financially since the hospital was saved from closing in 2020. After 10 weeks on strike, Kaiser and the mental health clinicians in California reached a tentative agreement on new contract terms, ending the work stoppage Oct. 18. Marathon Petroleum, now the top U.S. refiner, will be the lead negotiator; its agreement will set the pattern for 20 plants owned by 12 companies. Please remember that the submission of any material is governed by our, EMAP Publishing Limited Company number 7880758 (England & Wales) Registered address: 10th Floor, Southern House, Wellesley Grove, Croydon, CR0 1XG, We use cookies to personalize and improve your experience on our site. Similarly, director of RCN Wales, Helen Whyley, told Nursing Times she had been speaking to nurses from Bangor down to Bridgend and they are saying enough is enough. The workers want measures in new contracts to improve staffing and the retention, along with terms to prevent workplace violence. They are first seeking confirmation that he is willing and able to agree a backdated pay deal for 2022/23 and a rise for 2023/24. Staff shortages are putting patients at risk, and we have been left with no choice by our government, than to advocate for strike action, she said. "The last thing we want to do is strike. Recent waves of organizing by journalists and museum workers mean these workers are fighting for their first contract. The nations largest K-12 educators contract, covering 120,000 teachers and school staff in New York City, expires in September. Union workers also won two additional paid holidays under new contracts: Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. These temporary replacement workers are usually hired through travel nursing agencies. After years of under investment and inaction from government, our members are standing up for their patients and the future of their profession, he said. During an intense cost of living crisis and with predictions of further inflation and recession, we understand the concerns of our workforce about how their standards of living may be eroded.. Nurses contracts expired July 1 and in new contracts they want measures including language outlining the number of patients assigned per nurse, according to a release from the union representing them, the Michigan Nurses Association. They reached a deal with the system about a week later and returned to work May 3. The government has refused to reopen talks on the 2022/3 award and its recommendation to the pay review body for public sector workers including nurses for this upcoming year is just 3.5 percent. However, Mr Swann said he was unable to immediately implement the pay settlement, because the executive budget for the financial year in Northern Ireland is yet to be agreed. $30 for 12 issues. advantage they need to take action, identify targets and defend against evolving threats. On Sept. 22, the nurses and system reached a. on new contracts, effectively averting the strike, according to a release from the union. The hospitals are taking precautionary steps to prepare for a potential strike and will resume negotiations with the union and a federal mediator Tuesday, according to a statement from Stanford. While its arguable that temporary workers with little knowledge of new protocols could result in lower-quality care, theres no substantial proof that patient outcomes are negatively affected. NY - Sunshine Strike HealthSource has received strike notice in New York for ICU Cardiothoracic, Cardiac Cath Lab, Post-Partum, Labor and delivery, OR, PACU,ER, and Step Down. About 1,200 nurses went on a one-day strike at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Oakland, CA on June 23, 2022. Staffing is a key point of contention. When broken down, this would see the pay for a newly registered nurse at the start of Band 5 rise from 25,655 to 27,055 just over 5%. Where is the pay rise for qualified Band 4? Workers are using that as leverage to help negotiate the terms they want, though for some that still means heading to the picket line. Courtesy of Oregon Nursing Association Providence recently reported a $510 million dollar loss in the first quarter of 2022, and said the health care labor crisis and an increasing reliance on. In Scotland, a 5% pay increase was put forward by the Scottish Government earlier this year. And 2022 could potentially be more explosive. While no agreement has yet been reached, the system has offered nurses a four year, 22.4% wage increase. "Seton continues to provide and remain open for all acute, post-acute, emergency, cardiac and surgical services not only limited to inpatient care but also continues to keep all outpatient services open during the construction," he said. All Rights Reserved. The Northern Irish executive has collapsed before, most recently between 2017 and 2020, during which time pay for nurses did not keep up with that of their counterparts in other parts of the UK. The California nurses' demands in new contracts focus heavily on recruitment and retention of nursing staff "amid an industry-wide shortage and nurses being exhausted after working through the pandemic, many in short-staffed units," the union said in the release. Must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 including booster eligible. It must give the hospitals 10 days notice before going on strike. The union for nurses at Stanford and Lucile Packard Children's hospitals formally issued a strike letter to the hospitals' administrators on Wednesday, April 13, declaring their intention to walk off the job on . At Unison, members will be balloted over strike action from 3 October. And 2022 could potentially be more explosive. The nurses are represented by Temple University Hospital Nurses Association, while the other healthcare workers are represented by Temple Allied Professionals both affiliates of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. About 4,000 nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital also had planned to strike, though they reached a tentative agreement with the hospital a day after delivering notice of their plans to walk off the job. This was the unions third walkout of the year. The deal also includes a 7% wage increase in the first year of the contract, followed by two 5% increases in the second and third years, and an additional week of paid vacation time, among other provisions. Nurses wanted better staffing policies and higher wages to keep up with inflation and to help retain and recruit more staff. Union workers also won two additional paid holidays under new contracts: Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, New agreements significantly raise wages and address workers concerns around chronic short staffing and high turnover. A deal was not reached and nurses started striking again Oct. 24. RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen told Nursing Times that through speaking to nurses across England in recent weeks the level of not just anger but determination has astounded even me. We proved we can strike safely and effectively in Northern Ireland. The two sides have met with a federal mediator three times, and the strike would be open-ended. On Aug.29, about 50 mental health clinicians at Kaiser facilities in Hawaii also joined the strike, calling for the system to address access-to-care issues. 15,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association began a three-day strike at hospitals in Twin Cities and Twin Ports in Minnesota on September 13, 2022. The nurses and health systems reached tentative agreements Dec. 6, averting the strike. Some have walked off the job, demanding better contracts, and some residents organized for the first time. Over 900 nurses went on strike regarding concerns over understaffing at: The strike lasted one day and an agreement was reached. These industries also accounted for over half the workers involved in work stoppages (though mostly because of two huge sympathy strikes in California). Meanwhile, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: It is always disappointing when any members of our workforce reach a point where they feel that they have to ballot for industrial action. The union and hospital had been in negotiations for seven months. Scotlands health secretary Humza Yousaf said: While we respect the mandate given to trade unions, I am disappointed they have voted to reject the record 5% pay deal for NHS Scotland AfC staff, and are now holding ballots for industrial action. Click here to learn more. 6. While travel nursing has allowed some nurses to work in new places and roles where they can earn the higher salary they deserve, nurses who prefer to work in permanent roles close to home have organized for better pay, lighter patient loads, and safer work environments. While protocols may vary from organization to organization, its common practice for RNs to put safety mechanisms in place before striking. The contract has already expired for 29,000 members of the California Faculty Associationfaculty, librarians, and counselors at the California State University systemand theyre mid-battle. Nurses went on strike for the first time in 2019, but to no avail. The two sides did not reach an agreement and nurses walked off the job Sept. 12. One RN from the hospital also boasted that the agreement could help the hospital recruit and retain experienced nurses, especially the bilingual nurses who are so critical for our patient population.. Over 200 nurses at Armstrong County Memorial Hospital in Kittanning, PA began a 5-day strike on March 13, 2022. Unions representing NHS workers have finally been invited in to pay talks by ministers in a potential breakthrough aimed at averting strikes. They want pay raises amid inflation and to be better compensated for working through the pandemic and ongoing staffing shortages. However, the strike was averted after both sides approved a new two-year contract. Even worse, nearly 84% said they feel stressed more often now than they did before the pandemic. They, Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement. On Nov. 17, the nurses and system reached a tentative agreement, averting the strike, according to a union release. They added: In announcing our pay award for the NHS workforce in Wales, we made clear that without additional funding from the UK Government, there are limits to how far we can go to address these concerns in Wales.