From hospice centers to emergency rooms, frontline healthcare workers across the country have been striking this month to protest what they say are unsafe patient care conditions and poor bargaining behavior.
Below are six examples of union activity resulting in a strike — all of which occurred in July.
Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital (Baltimore, Maryland)
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Nurses at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore are planning a one-day strike on July 24. They are frustrated by ongoing tensions regarding staffing levels, patient safety and high turnover.
This marks the first time hospital nurses have ever gone on strike in Baltimore.
“We are striking because patients cannot get the best care due to hospital management’s staffing decisions that have led to a staffing crisis,” Melissa LaRue, a nurse in Ascension Saint Agnes’ intensive care unit, said in a statement. “During contract negotiations, we have put forward many proposals to address our concerns about patient safety and safe staffing. We want Ascension to come to the bargaining table so we can reach an agreement that puts patients first.”
Essentia Health (Northeast Minnesota and Wisconsin)
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Clinical workers at outpatient facilities owned by Essentia Health ended a 13-day strike on Tuesday. The strike involved more than 300 clinic nurses and 400 advanced practice providers.
These workers went on strike to protest Essentia’s failure to negotiate first-ever contracts in good faith, and they alleged unlawful interference with union organizing. The strike ended after these employees reached an agreement with Essentia to resume collective bargaining under improved terms.
“For too long, outpatient care has been treated like an afterthought,” Dana Bukovich, a nurse at Essentia’s Superior Clinic, said in a statement. “We’ve made it clear that patients in clinics deserve the same safe standards as patients in hospitals — and we won’t stop until they get them.”
University Medical Center New Orleans
A group of about 600 nurses at University Medical Center New Orleans, which is owned by LCMC Health, went on a two-day strike last week. The strike marks the hospital’s fourth in less than a year.
The nurses allege that the hospital has been disciplining and firing experienced nurses who are prominent union organizers, as retaliation for their union advocacy.
“Singling out pro-union nurses shows that LCMC is using discipline to retaliate against us,” said Dana Judkins, a nurse in the hospital’s trauma intensive care unit, in a statement. “We’re striking to let them know we won’t tolerate retribution for advocating for ourselves and our patients.”
HealthPartners Clinic (Stillwater, Minnesota)
About 80 clinical workers at HealthPartners Clinic Stillwater went on a four-day unfair labor practice strike that began July 8. These workers included licensed practical nurses, certified medical assistants and other service-unit healthcare staff members.
The group said the main reason for the strike was the hospital’s refusal to offer meaningful wage increases.
“The wages the employer is offering us are, frankly, insulting. Even for our highest paid members, they’re talking about increases that are less than 70 cents per year in their most recent pass. We refuse to accept that this is the best HealthPartners have to offer us. This vote solidifies that we have each other’s back and that we will stand together and demand better. If we don’t get what we deserve from the employer, we’re ready to strike,” Ellie Hilton, a providers assistant at the clinic, said in a statement.
McLaren Macomb Hospital (Mount Clemens, Michigan)
A group of employees at McLaren Macomb Hospital went on a three-day strike that began on July 7. The group includes about 500 nurses, as well as another 200 clinical support staff members.
The workers cited chronic unsafe staffing levels and low wages as their reasons for the strike, along with allegations that management was bargaining in bad faith.
Hospice of Petaluma (Petaluma, California) and Memorial Hospice (Santa Rosa, California)
Clinical workers at Hospice of Petaluma and Memorial Hospice, both owned by Providence, went on a two-day strike that began July 2. The group included more than 100 people — mainly nurses, home health aides, chaplains and social workers.
The workers’ main concerns centered on preserving patient caseload limits and care standards amid Providence’s planned joint venture with private equity–backed Compassus — which hospice workers fear could decrease the quality of the end-of-life care they provide.
“Providence is often seeking to save money at the expense of patient care and we’re worried that our services will be greatly reduced under a new private equity operator, unless we can enshrine protections in our union contract,” Tim Johnson, a social worker at Memorial Hospice, said in a statement.