Nurses to Protest Short-Staffing at Northridge, Oxnard Hospitals

Tues., July 1 at St. John’s Regional in Oxnard
Wed., July 2 at Northridge Hospital

Hundreds of Registered Nurses will put down stethoscopes and pick up picket signs next week to underline contract proposals to ease chronic understaffing at major medical facilities serving the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County.

Local 121RN of the Service Employees International Union represents more than 1,500 nurses at Northridge Hospital, St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, and St. John’s Pleasant Valley in Camarillo. SEIU nurses have been negotiating with parent company Catholic Healthcare West since February.

The head of the nurses’ negotiating team said the hospitals violate patient ratios all the time. “And bad things happen because of it,” said Executive Director Sue Weinstein. “We made several proposals to ensure RNs would be available all the time, including during hard-to-staff shifts, but management rejected them all outright.”

Weinstein said staffing levels are supposed to be determined by how sick patients are, not to meet financial goals set by company accountants in San Francisco. The union has also proposed competitive salaries and wage differentials to recruit and retain quality RNs.

This is not a work stoppage, and no picketing is planned at St. John’s Pleasant Valley in Camarillo. Call Steve Weingarten at (626) 675-2156 to arrange interview with Sue Weinstein and union nurses.