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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Strike at Providence St. Joseph Called Off

Union members at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center have agreed to call off a strike that was scheduled for today, June 12, and return to the bargaining table during a 30-day “cooling-off period.” The agreement was orchestrated by Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarc & #243;n, who urged the union members to refrain from striking during the 30-day period. “I have hopes that the 30-day cooling-off period will provide the opportunity for both the union and the company to reach an amicable resolution to the dispute and to build a new relationship moving forward,” Alarc & #243;n said in a written statement. According to Providence spokesman Dan Boyle, “The union is the one that called it off. We’re going back to the bargaining table tomorrow (June 13.)” In addition, Boyle said, the hospital and the unions have agreed to hire an impartial federal mediator during the negotiations. The hospital and approximately 600 nurses and 850 service and tech workers, who are members of SEIU 121 RN and SEIU UHW, respectively, were set to go forward with plans to strike after the two sides failed to reach a compromise during negotiations on June 4 and June 7. The hospital and unions have been in negotiations since Feb. 12. Among the issues the two sides have reached impasse over is the hospital’s use of sub-contractors for its laundry service; the employees’ desire to have a dispute resolution system with a binding third party; nurse staffing, which the union says is too low; and wages for nurses with experience, which the union says is not up to par with other area hospitals. The hospital had planned to fill the nursing and other positions with temporary nurses and other staff until June 15 if there had been a strike. The reason for this, said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bernie Klein, is the outside care companies providing the temporary staff can’t provide services for less than three days. As part of the 30-day agreement, Alarc & #243;n asked the hospital to refrain from hiring replacement workers during this period, and the hospital agreed. “We’re very happy that the strike’s been called off,” Boyle said. “We want to get an agreement on both sides as soon as possible.”

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