Emergency room nurse Lynn Drilling, left, tries to get support from drivers as she and about 100 other nurses picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
A few hundred nurses at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital picketed near their workplace for adjustments in their staffing ratios and “competitive wages” on Monday, June 24.
The association says they are primarily asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, because some nurses are asked to work in different departments that are not their specialty. They’re also asking for “competitive wages” and whistle-blower protections for the 2,150 nurses it represents at the hospitals.
Throughout the span of several hours, about 450 nurses picketed, organizers said Tuesday, June 25.
But hospital officials on Friday countered that the hospitals are safe and the staffing ratios of nurse-to-patient are above standards.
Tony Garcia, chief nursing officer at the Medical Center, said nurses are only assigned to specialized units that they are competent to work in. And officials countered that they felt the nurses would be better served at the bargaining table instead of the picket line.
About 100 nurses and supporters picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are holding forms they fill out when they lodge a complaint about being asked to work in another part of the hospital that is not in their specialty. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
About 100 nurses and supporters picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
About 100 nurses and supporters picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
Councilmember Jeannine Pearce voices her support for the nurses and supporters picketing in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
About 100 nurses and supporters picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are holding forms they fill out when they lodge a complaint about being asked to work in another part of the hospital that is not in their specialty. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
Nurses cross Atlantic Avenue as they picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
About 100 nurses and supporters picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
About 100 nurses and supporters picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
About 100 nurses and supporters picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
Emergency room nurse Lynn Drilling, left, tries to get support from drivers as she and about 100 other nurses picket in front of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs Hospital on Monday, June 24, 2019. The nurses are working with an expired contract and are asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
The California Nurses Association and the hospitals have been in negotiations for a new contract since January.
The nurses gathered with picket signs that read “A fair contract now!” and “Nurses are the heart of patient care” at Atlantic Avenue and 27th Street, across the street from their workplace, Monday morning. At about 11:30 a.m., Long Beach Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce and former Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga attended the rally, in addition to other elected officials.
Hospitals officials said the picket would not affect its operations and security personnel at the Long Beach hospitals could be seen scattered throughout the campus donning yellow vests.
Former #LongBeach council member Tonia Reyes Uranga voices support for nurses as they picket asking for adjustments in staffing ratios, wages and whistle-blower protections in front of LB Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital @presstelegrampic.twitter.com/4HKIqUy8if
