The following is a roundup of recent events pertaining to hospital-union relationships, including strikes, rallies and new contract agreements. All events were reported within the last month, beginning with the most recent.
1. Hundreds of workers at Bellingham, Wash.-based PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center and its labs went on strike following a breakdown in negotiations over wages and health benefits for a three-year contract.
2. Nurses at Upland, Pa.-based Crozer-Chester Medical Center held an informational picket over the lack of a new contract.
3. Los Altos Hills, Calif.-based Daughters of Charity Health System signed a short-term contract extension with Service Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association.
4. University of Chicago Medical Center nurses represented by National Nurses United approved a new four-year agreement with the hospital.
5. More than 150 nurses and patient advocates marched to protest patient care conditions and proposed nurse staffing cuts at Salinas (Calif.) Valley Memorial Hospital.
6. Service and maintenance personnel at North Providence, R.I.-based Our Lady of Fatima Hospital voted to join the United Nurses & Allied Professionals.
7. Around 3,000 workers at seven Minneapolis-based Allina Health hospitals approved a labor contract that establishes a $15 per hour minimum wage.
8. Thousands of nurses went on strike in Los Angeles and Northern California. Nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center were also slated to strike. However, the strike was called off in light of a tentative agreement. National Nurses United announced April 20 that nurses at the California and Illinois locations would strike over patient care and staffing concerns.
9. About 200 nurses at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass., conducted an informational picket over concerns about patient care.