Dive Brief:
- About 6,500 nurses at 12 Tenet hospitals are walking off the job in three states Friday after failing to come to new contract agreements with the for-profit chain, National Nurses United said.
- Dallas-based Tenet said it will have replacement nurses tending to patients during the one-day strike.
- The Florida and California nurses’ contracts with Tenet expired months ago. The Arizona bargaining unit has yet to reach its first contract with Tenet after organizing last October, according to NNU officials.
Dive Insight:
Work stoppages, particularly in healthcare, are on the rise.
Last year, the number of major work stoppages was the highest in almost a decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Healthcare and education represented almost all of them.
The Tenet nurses are calling on the company to invest in nurses as a way to improve recruitment and keep experienced nurses on the job. Such an investment will “ensure optimal patient care,” according to NNU.
Tenet said it’s disappointed in the union’s decision to hold a one-day strike.
“We have made progress toward a new contract and will continue to negotiate in hopes of reaching a successful resolution,” Tenet said in a statement.
And as October nears, a major work stoppage looms. More than 80,000 Kaiser Permanente workers, mostly non-clinical, are set to strike as its union failed to reach a new contract agreement with the integrated health system based in California.
California nurses called off a 10-day strike in August over staffing and safety issues after reaching a tentative agreement with Dignity Health. In April, New York nurses reached a tentative agreement, winning concessions from three major health systems including $ 100 million for hiring nurses and wage increases.