Nurses plan strike in New York; Calif. nurse walkout spurs hospital lockout

Nurses at one hospital in New York are planning a walkout in January unless they can hammer out an agreement with leaders there. In California in the meantime, nurses who staged a one-day walkout Thursday over a contract dispute and staffing issues will not be allowed back to work today, officials said.

The New York Times: Nurses Plan Walkout At St. Luke's-Roosevelt
Nurses at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital will go on strike on Jan. 3 unless last-ditch negotiations succeed in bridging a divide over wages, according to leaders in the New York State Nurses Association, which issued a 10-day strike warning early Thursday on behalf of 1,300 registered nurses at the hospital (Bernstein, 12/22).

Los Angeles Times: Nurses Stage 1-Day Strike At 2 Long Beach Hospitals
Hundreds of nurses from Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children's Hospital staged a one-day strike Thursday over failed contract negotiations and staffing issues (Vives, 12/23).

Bloomberg: California Nurses Say Strike Champions Patients Over Profits At Hospitals
Efren Garza and Margie Keenan, two California nurses with 70 years of combined experience, said they're skipping work today for the sake of their patients. Garza, employed in Berkeley, said if his bosses eliminate sick leave, nurses will come to work ill. Keenan, who has been at the same Long Beach hospital for 38 years, said limiting staff size and time off may cause overworked nurses to make potentially deadly medical mistakes (Frier and Kucera, 12/22).

The Associated Press: Hospitals To Lockout Striking Nurses
Hospital officials say nurses who staged a one-day strike against nine hospitals in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles will not be allowed to return to work Friday. Thursday's strike -; the second in three months -; and the planned lockout are the latest in a series of disputes between nurses and hospital management over health care costs, staffing levels and sick leave (12/23).