Unionized nurses at three separate hospitals, all part of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, went on strike Tuesday, according to a Santa Cruz Sentinel report.
The one-day strikes are occurring at Watsonville (Calif.) Community Hospital, Barstow (Calif.) Community Hospital and Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) General Hospital, according to the report. Contract negotiations between unions and CHS have not been successful at those three hospitals.
Staffing levels and proposed benefit cuts are at issue at Watsonville Community Hospital, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The last contract expired Sept. 30, was extended through Nov. 8 and then lapsed again. The nurses are represented by the California Nurses Association.
At Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, members of The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals are striking over what they call bad-faith bargaining and the hospital's failure to fairly negotiate, according to a report by The Times-Tribune. The nurses' contract expired in April.
Little information was available about the Barstow Community Hospital strike.
Temporary replacement workers have been hired to fill in at all three hospitals, and the hospitals say patient care is not expected to be affected by the strikes.
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